EOBEET  TOOMBS 


ROBERT  TOOMBS,  AT  THE  AGE  OF  75  YEARS. 


KOBEKT  TOOMBS 


STATESMAN,  SPEAKER,  SOLDIER, 

SAGE 


HIS     CAREER     IN     CONGRESS     AND     ON     THE    HUSTINGS HIS 

WORK     IN     THE     COURTS HIS     RECORD     WITH 

THE    ARMY HIS    LIFE    AT    HOME 


BY 

PLEASANT  A.    STOVALL 


"The  blood  which  mingled  at  Cowpens  and  at  Eutaw  cannot  be  kept  at 
enmity  forever." — Toombs. 


NEW  YORK 
CASSELL    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 

104  &  106  FOURTH  AVENUE 


COPYRIGHT,  1892, 
BY 

CASSELL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


THE  MEKSHON  COMPANY  PRESS, 
RAHWAY,   N.  J. 


Dedication* 

TO  ROBERT  TOOMBS  DU  BOSE,  WHOSE  INTEREST  AND  AID  WERE 

INVALUABLE,  AND  WITHOUT  WHOSE  COOPERATION  THE 

BIOGRAPHY  COULD  NOT  HAVE  BEEN  PREPARED, 

THIS  WORK  IS  DEDICA  TED  BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


220501 


"  There  are  courageous  and  honest  men  enough  in  both 
sections  to  fight.  There  is  no  question  of  courage  involved. 
The  people  of  both  sections  of  this  Union  have  illustrated 
their  courage  on  too  many  battlefields  to  be  questioned. 
They  have  shown  their  fighting  qualities  shoulder  to  shoulder 
whenever  their  country  has  called  upon  them  ;  but  that  they 
may  never  come  in  contact  with  each  other  in  fratricidal  war, 
should  be  the  ardent  wish  of  every  true  man  and  honest 
patriot."— Robert  Toombs,  Speech  in  U.  S.  Senate,  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  FAMILY,  BOYHOOD,  LITE  AT  COLLEGE,       ...  1 

II.  AT  THE  BAR, 

III.  IN  THE  LEGISLATURE, 29 

IV.  ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS, 

V.  IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE, 56 

VI.  THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850, 67 

VII.  THE  GEORGIA  PLATFORM, 83 

VIII.  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1852, 97 

IX.    TOOMBS  IN  THE  SENATE, 107 

X.  THE  "  KNOW-NOTHING"  PARTY,    ....  121 

XI.  TOOMBS  IN  BOSTON, •  •  129 

XII.  BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION,       ....  140 

XIII.  "  ON  THE  STUMP"  IN  GEORGIA,          .        .        .        .144 

XIV.  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856,  155 
XV.  JOHN  BROWN'S  RAID,          .        . .     . .        .        .        .169 

XVI.  THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION,    .        .        .        .  175 

XVII.  TOOMBS  AS  A  LEGISLATOR,          .        .        ...        .186 

XVIII.  ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN, 

XIX.  FAREWELL  TO  THE  SENATE, 205 

XX.  TOOMBS  AND  SECESSION, 

XXI.  TOOMBS  AS  PREMIER  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY,      .        .  222 
XXII.  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIR 
GINIA •    •  2!6 

XXIII.  WITH  THE  GEORGIA  MILITIA,         ....  277 

vii 


vni  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  pAGE 

XXIV.  TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE,       ...                        .  286 

XXV.  WITHOUT  A  COUNTRY,            ....  308 

XXVI.  COMMENCING  LIFE  ANEW, 315 

XXVII.  DAYS  OP  RECONSTRUCTION,             .        .        .  334 

XXVIII.  His  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE, 337 

XXIX.  DOMESTIC  LIFE  OF  TOOMBS,           ....  353 

XXX.  His  GREAT  FAULT, .  364 

XXXI.  His  LAST  DAYS,  369 


ROBERT    TOOMBS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FAMILY,  BOYHOOD,  LIFE    AT    COLLEGE. 

GABRIEL  TOOMBS  was  one  of  General  Braddock's 
soldiers  who  marched  against  Fort  DuQuesne  in 
1755.  He  was  a  member  of  the  sturdy  Virginia 
line  which  protested  against  the  dangerous  tactics 
of  the  British  martinet,  and  when  the  English  reg 
ulars  were  ambushed  and  cut  to  pieces,  Gabriel 
Toombs  deployed  with  his  men  in  the  woods  and 
picked  off  the  savages  with  the  steady  aim  and  un 
erring  skill  of  the  frontiersman.  Over  one  hun 
dred  years  later  Robert  Toombs,  his  grandson, 
protested  against  the  fruitless  charge  at  Malvern 
Hill,  and  obliquing  to  the  left  with  his  brigade, 
protected  his  men  and  managed  to  cover  the  re 
treat  of  his  division. 

This  was  a  family  of  soldiers.  They  were 
found  in  the  old  country  fighting  Cromwell's  army 
of  the  rebellion. 

Robert  Toombs  of  Georgia  was  fond  of  tracing 
his  lineage  to  the  champions  of  the  English  king 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

who  defended  their  sovereign  at  Boscobel.  But 
the  American  family  was  made  up  of  lovers  of 
liberty  rather  than  defenders  of  the  King.  It 
was  one  of  the  anomalies  in  the  life  of  the 
Georgia  Toombs,  who  resisted  all  restraint  and 
challenged  authority  in  every  form,  that  he  should 
have  located  his  ancestry  among  the  sworn  royal 
ists  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

William  Toombs,  the  great-grandfather  of 
Robert,  was  the  first  of  the  English  family  to 
come  to  America,  about  1650.  He  settled  in  Vir 
ginia.  Gabriel,  who  fought  with  Braddock,  was 
the  son  of  William.  Major  Eobert  Toombs,  the 
father  of  the  Georgia  statesman,  commanded  a 
Virginia  regiment  during  the  Revolution  and  ren 
dered  conspicuous  service  in  Georgia  against  the 
British.  Major  Toombs  came  to  Georgia  in  1783 
and  received  a  rich  tract  of  3000  acres  of  land  in 
Wilkes  County.  This  was  their  share  in  the 
award  to  distinguished  soldiers  of  uthe  Virginia 
line." 

"  They  fought  for  their  estates  like  feudal  bar 
ons,"  General  Toombs  used  to  say,  when  speaking 
of  his  ancestors,  now  sleeping  in  the  red  hills  of 
Georgia.  When  he  was  asked  after  the  civil  war 
why  he  did  not  petition  for  relief  of  political  dis 
abilities,  he  declared  that  "  no  vote  of  Congress, 
no  amnesty  proclamation,  shall  rob  me  of  the  glory 
of  outlawry.  I  shall  not  be  the  first  of  my  name 


FAMILY,  BOYHOOD,  LIFE  AT  COLLEGE.  .     3 

for  three  centuries  to  accept  the  stigma  of  a  par 
don." 

The  elder  Gabriel  Toombs  in  1795  made  his  last 
will  and  testament.  He  commended  his  soul  to 
God  who  gave  it,  and  blessed  his  Maker  for  the 
worldly  goods  that  he  was  possessed  of.  Distrib 
uting  his  estate  among  his  wife,  Ann  Toombs, 
and  his  six  children,  he  expressly  directed  that  his 
negroes  and  their  increase  must  be  appraised  to 
gether  ;  that  they  were  not  to  be  sold  out  of  the 
family,  and  that  they  should  be  "  used  in  a  Chris 
tian-like  manner."  He  divided  up  parcels  of  land 
in  Greene  and  Wilkes  counties  among  his  sons, 
Robert  Toombs  and  Dawson  Gabriel  Toombs,  and 
his  four  daughters.  Gabriel  Toombs  died  in  1801. 

When  Major  Robert  Toombs,  the  Virginia  vet 
eran,  and  son  of  Gabriel,  came  to  Georgia  to  claim 
his  award  of  land,  he  settled  on  Beaverdam  Creek, 
five  miles  from  the  town  of  Washington.  It  is 
probable  that  he  stopped  in  Columbia  County,  for 
he  married  Miss  Sanders,  of  that  county.  She 
died,  leaving  no  children,  and  Major  Toombs  went 
back  to  Virginia  and  married  Miss  Catlett.  One 
son  was  born,  and  this  lady  died.  Miss  Catharine 
Ruling  was  the  third  wife.  The  Hulings  were 
also  Virginians,  and  by  this  marriage  six  children 
were  reared.  Sarah,  who  finally  became  Mrs. 
Pope;  James,  who  was  killed  by  accident  while 
hunting ;  Augustus,  Robert,  and  Gabriel. 


4  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Catharine  Huling,  the  mother  of  Robert  Toombs 
of  Georgia,  was  a  most  excellent  woman,  of  strong 
and  exalted  piety.  She  was  of  Welsh  ancestry, 
a  devout  Methodist,  and  after  accompanying  her 
son  to  college,  and  seeing  him  married,  prosper 
ous,  and  distinguished,  died  in  1848,  when  he  was 
a  member  of  Congress.  Mrs.  Toombs  gave  gen 
erously  of  her  own  means,  to  family  and  friends. 
Robert  Toombs  proved  to  be  a  dutiful  son.  He 
visited  his  mother  constantly,  and  carefully  man 
aged  her  property.  Finally  he  induced  her  to 
move  to  Washington,  so  that  he  might  be  near 
her. 

Robert  Toombs  was  the  fifth  child  of  Robert 
and  Catharine  Toombs.  He  was  born  in  Wilkes 
County,  about  five  miles  from  Washington,  July 
2,  1810.  His  brother  Gabriel,  who  still  lives,  was 
three  years  his  junior,  and  was  throughout  his  life 
his  close  and  confidential  adviser  and  friend. 

Robert  Toombs,  in  childhood,  was  a  slender,  ac 
tive,  mischievous  lad,  and  it  will  be  a  surprise  to 
those  who  remember  his  superb  physical  man 
hood,  to  hear  that  at  school  and  college  he  bore 
the  nickname  of  "  Runt."  He  was  marked  for  his 
energy  and  vivacity.  He  was  not  precocious. 
Nature  gave  no  signs  of  her  intentions  in  his 
youth.  His  development,  physical  and  mental, 
was  not  rapid,  but  wholesome.  He  was  fond  of 
horseback  riding,  and  the  earliest  glimpse  we 


FAMILY,  BOYHOOD,  LIFE  AT  COLLEGE.  5 

have  of  Mm  is  as  a  slender  lad,  with  dark  eyes 
and  hair  slightly  touched  with  auburn,  flying 
through  the  village,  and  sometimes  carrying  on 
his  pony  behind  him  his  little  brother  to  school. 

He  was  always  in  good  health.  He  boasted 
that  he  never  took  medicine  until  he  was  thirty- 
four  years  old.  His  mother  said  that  he  grew  up 
almost  without  her  knowledge,  so  little  trouble  had 
he  given  her.  He  was  a  fine  horseman.  Possibly 
this  practice  had  much  to  do  with  his  good  spirits 
and  physical  strength. 

In  his  younger  days  he  rode  sixty-five  miles  to 
Milledgeville,  covering  the  distance  in  one  day, 
and  was  fresh  enough  to  attend  a  dance  at  night. 
He  delighted  in  fox-hunting,  although  never  a 
racer  or  in  any  sense  a  sporting  man.  During  the 
earlier  years  of  his  career  he  practiced  law  in  the 
saddle,  as  was  the  custom  with  the  profession  at 
that  time,  and  never  thought  of  riding  to  court  on 
wheels  until  later  in  life.  Throughout  his  active 
participation  in  the  Civil  War  he  rode  his  famous 
mare,  "  Gray  Alice,"  and  was  a  striking  figure  as, 
splendidly  mounted  and  charged  with  enthusiasm, 
he  plunged  along  the  lines  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia.  In  his  long  wandering  from 
capture  in  1865,  he  was  in  the  saddle  six  months, 
riding  to  and  from  the  wilds  of  northeast  Geor 
gia  to  the  swamps  of  the  Chattahoochee.  There 
was  something  in  his  picturesque  figure  upon 


6  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

the   horse   which    suggests    John    Eandolph    of 
Roanoke. 

His  first  training  was  at  what  was  known  as  an 
"  old  field  school,"  taught  by  Welcome  Fanning, 
a  master  of  good  attainments  and  a  firm  believer 
in  the  discipline  of  the  rod.  Afterward,  Robert 
Toombs  was  drilled  by  a  private  tutor,  Rev. 
Alexander  "Webster — an  adjunct  professor  of  the 
University  of  Georgia  and  a  man  of  high  repute 
as  scholar  and  instructor.  Mr.  Webster  was  the 
friend  and  early  preceptor  of  Alexander  H. 
Stephens. 

Young  Toombs  was  christened  Robert  Augus 
tus,  and  carried  his  middle  name  until  1840,  when 
he  seems  to  have  dropped  it  as  a  useless  piece  of 
furniture.  There  is  a  report  that  some  of  his  po 
litical  foes,  playing  upon  his  initials,  saddled  him 
with  the  sobriquet  of  "  Rat."  Having  out-grown 
one  nickname  he  was  prepared  to  shed  another. 

Young  Toombs  proved  to  be  a  great  reader. 
Most  of  his  learning  developed  in  the  Humanities ; 
and  a  cultured  visitor  from  Maryland  who  once 
stopped  at  his  father's  house  declared  that  this 
boy  of  fourteen  was  better  posted  in  history  than 
anyone  he  had  ever  seen. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Robert  Toombs 
was  fitted  out  for  Franklin  College — now  the 
State  University — located  in  Athens,  Ga.,  forty 
miles  from  Washington.  • 


FAMILY,  BOYHOOD,  LIFE  AT  COLLEGE.  7 

This  institution,  to  which,  he  was  devotedly 
attached  and  of  whose  governing  board  he  was  a 
member  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  chartered  in 
1785  by  the  State  of  Georgia.  It  was  the  early 
recipient  of  the  deed  of  western  lands,  which  the 
State  subsequently  purchased,  assuming  the  per 
petual  endowment  of  the  college.  It  has  been  to 
Georgia  what  Jefferson's  school  has  proved  to 
Virginia,  the  nursery  of  scholars  and  statesmen. 
Governor  John  Milledge  had  given  the  institution 
a  home  upon  a  beautiful  hill  overlooking  the 
Oconee  River,  and  this  lovely  spot  they  had  named 
Athens.  Here  in  1824  young  Robert  Toombs  re 
paired,  animated  with  the  feelings  which  move  a 
college  boy,  except  that  his  mother  went  with 
him  and  relieved  him  of  the  usual  sense  of  loneli 
ness  which  overtakes  the  student.  Major  Robert 
Toombs,  his  father,  who  was  an  indigo  and  tobacco 
planter,  was  reputed  to  be  a  wealthy  man  for  those 
times,  but  it  was  the  comfort  of  the  early  settler 
who  had  earned  his  demesne  from  the  govern 
ment  rather  than  the  wealth  of  the  capitalist. 
He  had  enough  to  support  his  family  in  comfort. 
He  died  when  Robert  was  five  years  old,  and  the 
latter  selected  as  his  guardian  Thomas  W.  Cobb, 
of  Greene  County,  a  cousin  of  Governor  Howell 
Cobb,  a  member  of  Congress  himself  and  a  man  of 
high  legal  attainment. 

When   Robert    Toombs    entered   college   that 

o 


8  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

institution  was  under  the  Presidency  of  Moses 
Waddell,  a  born  educator  and  strict  disciplinarian. 
Three  generations  of  this  family  have  served  the 
State  as  preceptors  in  Franklin  College. 

It  may  well  be  imagined  that  the  college  had 
not  at  that  time  reached  the  dignity  of  a  uni 
versity,  for  an  entry  in  President  "Waddell's  diary 
was  this :  "  Caught  Jones  chewing  tobacco  : 
whipped  him  for  it."  Those  were  the  old  days 
when  boys  were  boys  until  they  were  twenty-one. 
There  is  no  record  to  show  that  Robert  Toombs 
in  college  was  a  close  scholar.  Later  in  life  he  be 
came  a  hard  student  and  laborious  worker.  But 
if  these  industrious  habits  were  born  to  him  in 
Athens  there  is  no  trace  of  them.  That  he  was  a 
reader  of  Shakespeare  and  history  he  gave  ample 
evidence  in  his  long  career,  but  if  the  legends  of  his 
college  town  are  to  be  trusted,  he  was  more  noted 
for  outbreaks  of  mischief  than  for  close  applica 
tion.  Full  of  life  and  spirits,  a  healthy,  impetu 
ous  boy,  he  was  on  good  terms  with  his  class 
mates,  and  took  life  easily.  That  was  a  time  when 
students  were  required  to  get  up  at  sunrise  and 
attend  prayers. 

One  night,  the  story  goes,  the  vigilant  proctor 
actually  found  young  Toombs  playing  cards  with 
some  of  his  friends.  Fearing  a  reprimand, 
Toombs  sought  his  guardian,  who  happened  to  be 
in  Athens  on  a  visit  from  his  home  in  Greenes- 


FAMILY,  BOYHOOD,  LIFE  AT  COLLEGE.  0 

boro.  It  is  not  certain  that  young  Toombs  com 
municated  the  enormity  of  his  offense,  but  he 
obtained  leave  to  apply  to  Dr.  Waddell  for  a 
letter  of  discharge.  The  learned  but  severe 
scholar  had  not  received  the  proctor's  report,  and 
gave  the  young  student  a  certificate  of  honorable 
dismissal. 

Later  in  the  day  the  President  met  Toombs 
walking  around  the  campus. 

"  Robert  Toombs,"  said  he,  "  you  took  advan 
tage  .of  me  early  this  morning.  I  did  not  then 
know  that  you  had  been  caught  at  the  card-table 
last  evening." 

Toombs  straightened  up  and  informed  the 
doctor  that  he  was  no  longer  addressing  a  student 
of  his  college,  but  a  free-born  American  citizen. 

The  halls  of  Athens  are  fragrant  with  these 
stories  of  Toombs.  No  man  ever  left  so  distinc 
tive  a  stamp  upon  the  place  or  gave  such  spicy 
flavor  to  its  traditions. 

Among  the  college-mates  of  Robert  Toombs  at 
Athens  were  Stephen  Olin,  Robert  Dougherty, 
and  Daniel  Chandler,  the  grandfather  of  the  un 
fortunate  Mrs.  Maybrick  of  England,  and  the  man 
whose  chaste  and  convincing  appeal  for  female 
education  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  Wes- 
leyan  Female  College — the  first  seminary  in  the 
world  for  the  higher  culture  of  women. 

The  closest  of  these  companionships  was  that  of 


10  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

George  F.  Pierce,  a  young  man  like  Toombs,  full 
of  brains  and  energy — even  then  a  striking  and 
sparkling  figure.  The  path  of  these  men  com 
menced  at  the  door  of  their  alma  mater,  and 
although  their  ways  were  widely  divergent,  the 
friends  never  parted.  Two  of  the  finest  orators  in 
Georgia,  one  left  his  impress  as  strongly  upon  the 
Church  as  did  the  other  upon  the  State.  One 
became  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
and  the  other  a  Whig  senator.  One  day  these 
men  met,  both  in  the  zenith  of  power,  when 
Toombs  said  :  "  Well,  George,  you  are  fighting  the 
devil,  and  I  am  fighting  the  Democrats." 

Closer  in  friendship  their  hands  clasped  as  age 
swept  over  their  raven  locks  and  stalwart  shoul 
ders.  Bishop  Pierce  never  hesitated  to  go  to 
Robert  Toombs  when  his  churches  or  his  schools 
needed  money.  Toombs  would  give  to  the 
Methodist  itinerant  as  quickly  as  he  would  to  the 
local  priest.  Whether  he  was  subscribing  for  a 
Catholic  Orphans'  Home  or  a  Methodist  College 
he  would  remark,  as  he  gave  liberally  and  freely, 
"  I  always  try  to  honor  God  Almighty's  drafts." 

Pierce  and  Toombs  had  much  in  common — 
although  the  one  was  full  of  saintly  fire  and  the 
other,  at  times,  of  defiant  irreverence.  It  was 
Pierce  whose  visits  Toombs  most  enjoyed  at  his 
own  home,  with  whom  he  afterward  talked  of 
God  and  religion.  The  good  bishop  lived  to. 


FAMILY,  BOYHOOD,  LIFE  AT  COLLEGE.  11 

bury  the  devoted  Christian  wife  of  the  Georgia 
statesman,  and  finally,  when  the  dross  of  worldli- 
ness  was  gone,  to  receive  into  the  Methodist 
Church  the  bowed  and  weeping  figure  of  the  giant 
Toombs. 

When  Robert  Toombs  became  prominent  in 
Georgia,  there  is  a  story  that  his  State  university, 
in  order  to  win  back  his  friendship,  conferred 
upon  him  an  honorary  degree.  Toombs  is  repre 
sented  as  having  spurned  it  with  characteristic 
scorn.  "No,"  said  he,  "when  I  was  unknown 
and  friendless,  you  sent  me  out  disgraced,  and 
refused  me  a  diploma.  Now  that  I  would  honor 
the  degree  I  do  not  want  it." 

There  is  no  record  that  the  college  ever  con 
ferred  a  degree  upon  Toombs  at  all.  Later  in 
life  he  was  elected  a  trustee  of  this  university, 
and  each  year  his  familiar  figure  was  seen  on  the 
stage  during  commencement,  or  his  wise  counsel 
heard  about  the  board.  His  attendance  upon 
these  duties  was  punctilious.  He  would  leave 
the  courthouse,  the  legislative  halls,  or  Virginia 
Springs — wherever  he  happened  to  be— and 
repair  to  Athens  the  first  week  in  August. 
Once  or  twice  he  delivered  the  annual  address 
before  the  alumni;  several  times  he  secured 
appropriations  for  his  alma  mater  from  the  State. 
His  visits  to  Athens  were  always  occasions  of 
honor.  Young;  men  flocked  wherever  his  voice 


12  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

was  heard,  fascinated  by  his  racy  conversation. 
No  "  Disinherited  Knight  "  ever  returned  to  more 
certain  conquest  or  more  princely  homage. 

There  is  a  regular  mythology  about  Toombs  at 
his  State  university.  The  things  he  said  would 
fill  a  volume  of  Sydney  Smith,  while  the  pranks 
he  played  would  rival  the  record  of  Robin  Hood. 
There  is  still  standing  in  the  college  campus  in 
Athens  a  noble  tree,  with  the  crown  of  a  century 
upon  it.  .  Under  its  spreading  branches  the  first 
college  commencement  wras  held  one  hundred 
years  ago ;  under  it  the  student  Toombs  once 
stood  and  addressed  his  classmates,  and  of  all  the 
men  who  have  gone  in  and  out  beneath  its  shade, 
but  one  name  has  been  found  sturdy  enough  to 
link  with  this  monument  of  a  forgotten  forest. 
The  boys  to  this  day  call  it  "  The  Toombs  Oak." 


r 


ROBERT   TOOMBS,  AGE  19,  LAW  STUDENT,  UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  1829. 
{From  a  miniature  painting .) 


CHAPTER  II. 

AT    THE    BAR. 

AFTER  Robert  Toombs  left  the  University  of 
Georgia,  he  entered  Union  College  at  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.,  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Eliphalet 
Knott.  Here  he  finished  his  classical  course  and 
received  his  A.  B.  degree.  This  was  in  1828,  and 
in  1829  he  repaired  to  the  University  of  Virginia, 
where  he  studied  law  one  year.  In  the  Superior 
Court  of  Elbert  County,  Ga.,  holden  on  the  18th 
day  of  March,  1830,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
The  license  to  practice  recites  that  "  Robert  A. 
Toombs  made  his  application  for  leave  to  practice 
and  plead  in  the  several  courts  of  law  and  equity 
in  this  State,  whereupon  the  said  Robert  A. 
Toombs,  having  given  satisfactory  evidence  of 
good  moral  character,  and  having  been  examined 
in  open  court,  and  being  found  well  acquainted 
and  skilled  in  the  laws,  he  was  admitted  by  the 
court  to  all  the  privileges  of  an  attorney,  solicitor, 
and  counsel  in  the  several  courts  of  law  and  equity 
in  this  State." 

The  license  is  signed  by  William  H.  Crawford, 
Judge,  Superior  Court,  Northern  Circuit.  Judge 

13 


14  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Crawford  Lad  served  two  terms  in  the  United 
States  Senate  from  Georgia.  He  had  been  Minis 
ter  to  Paris  during  the  days  of  the  first  Napoleon. 
He  had  been  Secretary  of  War  and  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States.  In  1825  he  re 
ceived  a  flattering  vote  for  President,  when  the 
Clay  and  Adams  compact  drove  Jackson  and 
Crawford  to  the  rear.  Bad  health  forced  Mr. 
Crawford  from  the  field  of  national  politics,  and 
in  1827,  upon  the  death  of  Judge  Dooly,  Mr. 
Crawford  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Northern 
Circuit.  He  held  this  position  until  his  death  in 
Elbert  County,  which  occurred  in  1834.  Craw 
ford  was  a  friend  and  patron  of  young  Toombs. 
The  latter  considered  him  the  full  peer  of  Web 
ster  and  of  Calhoun. 

Robert  Toombs  was  married  eight  months  after 
his  admission  to  the  bar.  His  career  in  his  pro 
fession  was  not  immediately  successful.  A  news 
paper  writer  recently  said  of  him  that  "  while  his 
contemporaries  were  fighting  stubbornly,  with  vary 
ing  luck,  Toombs  took  his  honors  without  a 
struggle,  as  if  by  divine  right,"  This  was  no 
more  true  of  Toombs  than  it  is  true  of  other  men. 
He  seems  to  have  reached  excellence  in  law  by 
slow  degrees  of  toil.  Hon.  Frank  Hardeman,  So 
licitor-General  of  the  Northern  Circuit,  was  one  of 
the  lawyers  who  examined  Toombs  for  admission 
to  the  bar.  He  afterward  declared  that  Robert 


AT  THE  BAR.  15 

Toombs,  during  the  first  four  or  five  years  of  his 
practice,  did  not  give  high  promise.  His  work  in 
his  office  was  spasmodic,  and  his  style  in  court 
was  too  vehement  and  disconnected  to  make 
marked  impression.  But  the  exuberance  or  re 
dundancy  of  youth  soon  passed,  and  he  afterward 
reached  a  height  in  his  profession  never  attained 
by  a  lawyer  in  Georgia. 

His  work  during  the  first  seven  years  of  his 
practice  did  not  vary  in  emolument  or  inci 
dent  from  the  routine  of  a  country  lawyer.  In 
those  days  the  bulk  of  legal  business  lay  in  the 
country,  and  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  pro 
fession  made  the  circuit  with  their  sadclle-bags, 
and  put  up  during  court  week  at  the  village 
taverns.  Slaves  and  land  furnished  the  basis  of 
litigation.  Cities  had  not  reached  their  size  and 
importance,  corporations  had  not  grown  to  present 
magnitude,  and  the  wealth  and  brains  of  the  land 
were  found  in  the  rural  districts.  "  The  young 
lawyers  of  to-day,"  says  Judge  Reese  of  Georgia, 
"  are  far  in  advance  of  those  during  the  days  of 
Toombs,  owing  to  the  fact  that  questions  and 
principles  then  in  doubt,  and  which  the  lawyers 
had  to  dig  out,  have  been  long  ago  decided,  nor 
were  there  any  Supreme  Court  reports  to  render 
stable  the  body  of  our  jurisprudence." 

The  counties  in  which  Robert  Toombs  prac 
ticed  were  Wilkes,  Columbia,  Oglethorpe,  Elbert, 


16  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Franklin,  and  Greene.  The  bar  of  the  Northern 
Circuit  was  full  of  eminent  men.  Crawford  pre 
sided  over  the  courts  and  a  delegation  of  rare 
strength  pleaded  before  him.  There  were  Charles 
J.  Jenkins,  Andrew  J.  Miller,  and  George  W. 
Crawford  of  Eichmond  County ;  from  Oglethorpe 
were  George  E.  Gilmer  and  Joseph  Henry  Lump- 
kin ;  from  Elbert,  Thomas  W.  Thomas  and 
Eobert  McMillan  ;  from  Greene,  William  C.  Daw- 
son,  Francis  H.  Cone ;  from  Clarke,  Ho  well  Cobb ; 
from  Taliaferro,  Alexander  H.  Stephens.  Across 
the  river  in  Carolina  dwelt  Calhoun  and  McDuffie. 
As  a  prominent  actor  in  those  days  remarked: 
"  Giants  seem  to  grow  in  groups.  There  are  seed 
plats  which  foster  them  like  the  big  trees  of 
California,  and  they  nourish  and  develop  one 
another,  and  seem  to  put  men  on  their  mettle." 
Such  a  seed  plat  we  notice  within  a  radius 
of  fifty  miles  of  Washington,  Ga.,  where  lived 
a  galaxy  of  men,  illustrious  in  State  and  national 
affairs. 

In  1837  the  great  panic  which  swept  over  the 
country  left  a  large  amount  of  litigation  in  its 
path.  Between  that  time  and  1843,  Lawyer 
Toonibs  did  an  immense  practice.  It  is  said  that 
in  one  term  of  court  in  one  county  he  returned 
two  hundred  cases  and  took  judgment  for  $200,- 
000.  The  largest  part  of  his  business  was  in 
Wilkes  and  Elbert,  and  his  fees  during  a  single 


AT  THE!  BAR.  17 

session  of  the  latter  court  often  reached  $5000. 
During  these  six  years  he  devoted  himself  dili 
gently  and  systematically  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  broken  only  by  his  annual  attendance 
upon  the  General  Assembly  at  Milledgeville.  It 
was  during  this  period  that  he  developed  his 
rare  powers  for  business  and  his  surpassing  elo 
quence  as  an  advocate.  lie  made  his  fortune 
during  these  years,  for  after  1843,  and  until  the 
opening  of  the  war  -between  the  States,  he  was 
uninterruptedly  a  member  of  Congress. 

There  was  no  important  litigation  in  eastern  or 
middle  Georgia  that  did  not  enlist  his  services. 

O 

He  proved  to  be  an  ardent  and  tireless  wrorker. 
He  had  grown  into  a  manhood  of  splendid  phy 
sique,  and  he  spent  the  days  and  most  of  the 
nights  in  careful  application.  He  never  went 
into  a  case  until  after  the  most  thorough  prepara 
tion,  where  preparation  wras  possible.  But  he  had 
a  wonderful  memory  and  rare  legal  judgment. 
He  was  thoroughly  grounded  in  the  principles 
of  law.  He  possessed,  as  well,  some  of  that  com 
mon  sense  which  enabled  him  to  see  what  the 
law  ought  to  be,  and  above  all  else,  he  had  the 
strongest  intuitive  perception  of  truth.  He  could 
strip  a  case  of  its  toggery  and  go  right  to  its 
vitals.  He  was  bold,  clean,  fearless,  and  impetu- 
qus,  and  when  convinced  he  had  right  on  his  side 
would  fight  through  all  the  courts,  with  irresisti- 


18  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ble  impulse.  He  was  susceptible  to  argument, 
but  seemed  absolutely  blind  to  fear. 

The  brightest  chapters  of  the  life  of  Toombs 
are  perhaps  his  courthouse  appearances.  There 
is  no  written  record  of  his  masterly  perform 
ances,  but  the  lawyers  of  his  day  attest  that  his 
jury  speeches  were  even  better  than  his  political 
addresses. 

A  keen  observer  of  those  days  will  tell  you 
that  Mr.  Stephens  would  begin  his  talk  to  the 
jury  with  calmness  and  build  upon  his  opening 
until  he  warmed  up  into  eloquence;  but  that 
Mr.  Toombs  would  plunge  immediately  into  his 
fierce  and  impassioned  oratory,  and  pour  his  tor 
rent  of  wit,  eloquence,  logic,  and  satire  upon 
judge  and  jury.  He  would  seem  to  establish 
his  case  upon  the  right,  and  then  defy  them  to 
disregard  it. 

In  spite  of  this  vehement  and  overpowering 
method  he  possessed  great  practical  gifts.  He 
had  the  knack  of  unraveling  accounts,  and  while 

O  " 

not  technically  skilled  in  bookkeeping,  had  a  gen 
eral  and  accurate  knowledge  which  gave  him 
prestige,  whether  in  intricate  civil  or  criminal 
cases.  He  was  a  rash  talker,  but  the  safest  of 
counselors,  and  practiced  his  profession  with  the 
greatest  scruple.  On  one  occasion  he  said  to  a 
client  who  had  stated  his  case  to  him :  "  Yes,  you 
can  recover  in  this  suit,  but  you  ought  not  to  do 


AT  THE  BAR.  19 

so.     This  is  a  case  in  which  law  and  justice  are 
on  opposite  sides." 

The  client  told  him  he  would  push  the  case, 
anyhow. 

"  Then,"  replied  Mr.  Toombs,  "  you  must  hire 
someone  else  to  assist  you  in  your  damned  ras 
cality." 

On  one  occasion  a  lawyer  went  to  him  and  asked 
him  what  he  should  charge  a  client,  in  a  case  to 
which  Mr.  Toombs  had  just  listened  in  the  court 
house. 

"  Well,"  said  Toombs,  "  I  should  have  charged 
a  thousand  dollars  ;  but  you  ought  to  have  five 
thousand,  for  you  did  a  great  many  things  I 
could  not  have  done." 

Mr.  Toombs  was  strict  in  all  his  engagements. 
His  practice  remained  with  him,  even  while  he 
was  in  Congress,  and  his  occasional  return  during 
the  session  of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  Northern 
Circuit  gave  rise  at  one  time  to  some  comment  on 
the  part  of  his  opponents,  the  Democrats.  The 
nominee  of  that  party,  on  the  stump,  declared  that 
the  demands  upon  Mr.  Toombs's  legal  talent  in 
Georgia  were  too  great  to  admit  of  his  strict  attend 
ance  to  public  business  in  Washington.  When  Mr. 
Toombs  came  to  answer  this  point,  he  said  :  "  You 
have  heard  what  the  gentleman  says  about  my 
coining  home  to  practice  law.  He  promises,  if 
elected  to  Congress,  he  will  not  leave  his  seat.  I 


20  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

leave  you  to  judge,  fellow-citizens,  whether  your 
interest  in  Washington  will  be  best  protected  by 
his  continued  presence  or  his  occasional  absence." 
This  hit  brought  down  the  house.  Mr.  Toombs's 
addresses  to  the  Supreme  Court  were  models  of 
solid  argument.  During  the  early  days  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  Georgia,  it  was  a  migratory  body ; 
the  law  creating  it  tended  to  popularize  it  by  pro 
viding  that  it  should  hold  its  sessions  in  the  differ 
ent  towns  in  the  State  convenient  to  the  lawyers. 
The  court  once  met  in  the  little  schoolroom  of  the 
Lumpkin  Law  School  in  Athens.  One  of  the 
earliest  cases  heard  wras  a  land  claim  from  Han 
cock  County,  bristling  with  points  and  involving 
about  $100,000  worth  of  property.  A.  II.  Ste 
phens,  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  Howell  and  Thomas 
Cobb  were  employed,  but  in  this  splendid  fight  of 
Titans,  Justice  Lumpkin  declared  that  the  finest 
legal  arguments  he  ever  heard  were  from  the  lips 
of  Kobert  Toombs. 

Hon.  A.  H.  Stephens  said  the  best  speech  Mr. 
Toombs  ever  made  was  in  a  case  in  which  he  rep 
resented  a  poor  girl  who  was  suing  her  stepfather 
for  cruel  treatment.  The  defendant  was  a  preacher, 
and  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  for  $4000,  the 
maximum  sum  allowred,  and  petitioned  the  Judge 
to  allow  them  to  find  damages  in  a  heavier  amount. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  causes  Mr.  Toombs 
was  engaged  in  before  the  war  was  a  railroad  case 


AT  THE  BAR.  21 

"beard  in  Marietta,  Ga.,  in  September,  185 8.  How- 
ell  Cobb  and  Robert  Toombs  were  employed  on 
one  side,  while  Messrs.  Pettigru  and  Memminger, 
of  Charleston,  giants  of  the  Carolina  bar,  were 
ranged  in  opposition.  The  ordeal  was  a  very  try 
ing  one.  The  case  occupied  seven  days.  Mr. 
Toombs,  always  an  early  riser,  generally  com 
menced  his  preparation  in  this  case  at  half-past 
five  in  the  morning.  The  hearing  of  the  facts 
continued  in  the  courthouse  until  seven  in  the 
evening,  and  the  nights  were  passed  in  consul 
tation  with  counsel.  Attendants  upon  this  cel 
ebrated  trial  declared  that  Toombs's  manner  in 
the  courtroom  was  indifferent.  That,  while  other 
lawyers  were  busy  taking  notes,  he  seemed  to  sit  a 
listless  spectator,  rolling  his  head  from  side  to  side, 
oblivious  to  evidence  or  proceeding.  And  yet, when 
his  time  came  to  conclude  the  argument,  he  arose 
with  his  kingly  way,  and  so  thorough  was  his  mas 
tery  of  the  case,  with  its  infinite  detail,  its  broad 
principles,  and  intricate  technicalities,  that  his  ar 
gument  was  inspiring  and  profound.  His  mem 
ory  seemed  to  have  indelibly  pictured  the  entire 
record  of  the  seven  days,  and  to  have  grouped 
in  his  mind  the  main  argument  of  counsel.  It 
was  a  wonderful  display  of  retentiveness,  acumen, 
learning,  and  power.  On  one  occasion,  while  a 
member  of  the  United  States  Senate,  he  came  to 
Georgia  to  attend  a  session  of  the  Supreme  Court 


22  ROBERT  TOOMBS, 

in  Milledgeville.  He  writes  his  wife  :  "  I  have  had 
a  hard,  close  week's  work.  The  lawyers  very 
kindly  gave  way  and  allowed  my  cases  to  come 
on  this  week,  which  brought  them  very  close  to 
gether,  and  as  I  was  but  ill  prepared  for  them, 
not  having  given  them  any  attention  last  winter, 
and  but  little  this  spring,  I  have  been  pretty  much 
speaking  all  day  and  studying  all  night."  In 
March,  1856,  Mr.  Tooinbs  wrote  to  his  wife,  whom 
he  had  left  in  Washington  City,  that  the  spring 
term  of  Wilkes  court  would  be  the  most  labori 
ous  and  disagreeable  he  ever  attended.  Says  he  : 
"  For  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  have  business  in 
court  of  iny  own — that  is,  where  I  am  a  party. 
The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Georgia  has  given  me  a 
year's  work  on  my  own  account.  If  I  live  I  will 
make  the  last  named  party  repent  of  it." 

At  another  time  he  wrote  :  "  I  had  fine  weather 
for  Elbert,  and  a  delightful  trip.  Everything 
went  well  in  Elbert  with  my  business."  It  usually 
did.  There  was  no  county  in  which  he  was  more 
of  an  autocrat  than  in  Elbert.  He  never  failed  to 
carry  the  county  in  politics,  even  when  Elbert  had 
a  candidate  of  her  own  for  Congress.  His  legal 
advice  was  eagerly  sought,  and  he  was  more  con 
sulted  than  any  other  man  in  Georgia  about  public 
and  private  affairs.  The  reason  of  his  phenomenal 
success  as  counsel  was  that,  united  with  his  learn 
ing  and  forensic  power,  he  had  a  genius  for  de- 


AT  THE  BAR.  23 

tail.  He  was  a  natural  financier.  He  used  to 
tell  President  Davis,  during  the  early  days  of  the 
Confederacy,  that  four-fifths  of  war  was  business, 
and  that  he  must  "  organize  "  victory. 

During  the  sessions  of  Elbert  court  his  argu 
ments  swept  the  jury,  his  word  was  law  outside. 
His  talk  was  inspiring  to  the  people.  His  rare 
and  racy  conversation  drew  crowds  to  his  room 
every  night,  and  to  an  occasional  client,  who  would 
drop  in  upon  his  symposium  to  confer  with  him, 
he  would  say,  with  a  move  of  his  head,  "  Don't 
worry  about  that  now.  I  know  more  about  your 
business  than  you  do,  as  I  will  show  you  at  the 
proper  time."  His  fees  at  Elbert  were  larger 
than  at  any  other  court  except  his  own  home  in 
Wilkes.  It  was  during  the  adjournment  of  court 
for  dinner  that  he  would  be  called  out  by  his  con 
stituents  to  make  one  of  his  matchless  political 
speeches.  He  never  failed  to  move  the  crowds  to 
cheers  of  delight. 

On  one  occasion  he  was  at  Roanoke,  his  planta 
tion  in  Stewart  County,  Ga.  He  writes  his  wife  : 
"  I  was  sent  for  night  before  last  to  appear  in 
Lumpkin  to  prosecute  a  case  of  murder :  but  as 
it  appeared  that  the  act  was  committed  on  account 
of  a  wrong  to  the  slayer's  marital  rights,  I  declined 
to  appear  against  him."  Mr.  Toombs  was  the 
embodiment  of  virtue,  and  the  strictest  defender 
of  the  sanctity  of  marriage  on  the  part  of  man  as 


^  ROBERT  TOO  MBS. 

well  as  woman.  His  whole  life  was  a  sermon  of 
purity  and  devotion. 

Judge  William  M.  Keese,  who  practiced  law 
with  Mr.  Toombs,  and  was  his  partner  from  1840 
to  1843,  gives  this  picture  of  Toombs  at  the  bar : 
"  A  noble  presence,  a  delivery  which  captivated 
his  hearers  by  its  intense  earnestness  :  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  his  cases,  a  lightning-like  perception 
of  the  weak  and  strong  points  of  controversy ;  a 
power  of  expressing  in  original  and  striking  lan 
guage  his  strong  convictions ;  a  capacity  and  will 
ingness  to  perform  intellectual  labor;  a  passion 
for  the  contest  of  the  courthouse ;  a  perfect 
fidelity  and  integrity  in  all  business  intrusted  to 
him,  with  charming  conversational  powers — all 
contributed  to  an  immense  success  in  his  profes 
sion.  Such  gifts,  with  a  knowledge  of  business 
and  the  best  uses  of  money,  were  soon  rendered 
valuable  in  accumulating  wealth." 

Although  Mr.  Toombs  often  appeared  in  courts 
to  attend  to  business  already  in  his  charge,  he 
gave  out  that  he  would  not  engage  in  any  new 
causes  which  might  interfere  with  his  Congres 
sional  duties.  The  absorbing  nature  of  public 
business  from  1850  to  1867  withdrew  him  from 
the  bar,  and  the  records  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Georgia  have  only  about  twenty-five  cases  argued 
by  him  in  that  time.  Some  of  these  were  of  com 
manding  importance,  and  the  opinions  of  the 


AT  THE  BAR.  25 

Justices  handed  down  in  that  time  bear  impress  of 
the  collusiveness  of  his  reasoning  and  the  power 
of  his  effort  before  that  tribunal.  Judge  E.  H. 
Pottle,  who  presided  over  the  courts  of  the  North 
ern  Circuit  during  the  later  years  of  Toombs's 
practice,  recalls  a  celebrated  land  case  when 
Robert  Toombs  was  associated  against  Francis  H. 
Cone — himself  a  legal  giant.  Toombs's  associate 
expected  to  make  the  argument,  but  Cone  put  up 
such  a  powerful  speech  that  it  was  decided  that 
Toombs  must  answer  him.  Toombs  protested, 
declaring  that  he  had  been  reading  a  newspaper, 
and  not  expecting  to  speak,  had  not  followed  Judge 
Cone.  However,  he  laid  down  his  paper  and 
listened  to  Cone's  conclusion,  then  got  up  and 
made  an  overmastering  forensic  effort  which  cap 
tured  Court  and  crowd. 

The  last  appearance  Toombs  ever  made  in  a 
criminal  case  was  in  the  Eberhart  case  in  Ogle- 
thorpe  County,  Ga.,  in  1877.  He  was  then  sixty- 
seven  years  of  age,  and  not  only  was  his  speech  fine, 
but  his  management  of  his  case  was  superb.  He 
had  not  worked  on  that  side  of  the  court  for  many 
years,  but  the  presiding  Judge,  who  watched  him 
closely,  declared  that  he  never  made  a  mistake  or 
missed  a  point. 

It  was  during  a  preliminary  hearing  of  this  case 
that  Toombs  resorted  to  one  of  his  brilliant  and 
audacious  motions,  characteristic  of  him.  The 


23  tlOBERT  TOOM&S. 

State  wanted  to  divide  the  case  and  try  the  princi 
pals  separately.  Father  and  son  were  charged  with 
murder.  The  defense  objected,  but  was  overruled 
by  the  Court.  General  Toombs  then  sprung  the 
point  that  Judge  Pottle  was  not  qualified  to  pre 
side,  on  the  ground  of  a  rumor  that  he  had  selected 
the  men  of  the  jury  panel  instead  of  drawing  them. 
Toombs  further  argued  that  the  Court  was  not 
competent  to  decide  the  question  of  fact.  Judge 
Pottle  vacated  the  bench  and  the  clerk  of  court 
called  Hon.  Samuel  H.  Hardeman  to  preside. 
Toombs  and  Benjamin  H.  Hill,  his  assistant,  con 
tended  that  the  clerk  had  no  right  to  appoint  a 
judge.  Judge  Hardeman  sustained  the  point  and 
promptly  came  down,  when  Judge  Pottle  resumed 
the  bench  and  continued  the  case — just  the  result 
that  Toombs  wanted.  This  case  attracted  immense 
comment,  and  in  the  Constitution  of  1877  a  pro 
vision  was  made,  growing  out  of  this  incident,  pro 
viding  for  the  appointment  of  judges  pro  hac  vice. 

He  was  a  bitter  enemy  to  anything. that  smacked 
of  monopoly,  and  during  the  anti-railroad  agitation 
of  1879-80,  he  said:  "If  I  was  forty-five  years 
old  I  would  whip  this  fight."  Still,  he  was  an 
exceedingly  just  man.  Linton  Stephens,  noted 
for  his  probity  and  honor,  said  he  would  rather 
trust  Robert  Toombs  to  decide  a  case  in  which  he 
was  interested  than  any  man  he  ever  saw. 

During  the  last  five  years  of  General  Toombs's 


AT  THE  BAR.  2*7 

life  lie  was  seldom  seen  in  the  courtroom.      He 
was  sometimes  employed  in  important  causes,  but 
his  eyesight  failed  him,  and  his  strength  was  visi 
bly  impaired.      His  addresses  were  rather  discon 
nected.     His  old  habit  of  covering  his  points  in 
great  leaps,  leaving  the  intervening  spaces  unex 
plained,  rendered  it  difficult  to  follow  him.     His 
mind  still  acted  with  power,  and  he  seemed  to  pre 
sume  that  his  hearers  were  as  well  up  on  his  sub 
ject  as  he  was.     His  manner  was  sometimes  over 
bearing  to  the  members  of  the  bar,  but  no  man  was 
more  open  to  reason  or  more  sobered  by  reflection, 
and  he  was  absolutely  without  malice.     He  was 
always  recognized  as  an  upright  man,  and  he  main 
tained,  in  spite  of  his  infirmities,  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  bench  and  bar  and  of  the  people. 
Chief  Justice  Jackson  said  :  "  In  the  practice  of 
law  this  lightning-like  rapidity  of  thought  distin 
guished  Toornbs.     He  saw  through  the  case  at  a 
glance,  and  grasped  the  controlling  point.     Yield 
ing  minor  hillocks,  he  seized  and  held  the  height 
that  covered  the  field,   and  from  that  eminence 
shot  after  shot  swept  all  before  it.      Concentrated 
fire  was   always   his   policy.     A   single  sentence 
would  win  his  case.     A  big  thought,  compressed 
into  small  compass,  was  fatal  to  his  foe.     It  is  the 
clear  insight  of  a  great  mind  only  that  shaped  out 
truth  in  words  few  and  simple.     Brevity  is  power, 
wherever  thought  is  strong.     From  Gaul  Caesar 


ttOBERf  TOOMBS. 


wrote '  Veni,  vidi,  viciS  Eome  was  electrified,  and 
the  message  immortalized.  Toombs  said  to  this 
Court,  '  May  it  please  your  Honor— Seizin,  Mar- 
riage,  Death,  Dower,'  and  sat  down.  His  case 
was  won,  the  widow's  heart  leaped  with  joy,  and 
the  lawyer's  argument  lives  forever." 


CHAPTER  III. 

IN    THE    LEGISLATURE. 

WHEN  Andrew  Jackson  and  John  C.  Calhoun 
were  waging  their  "  irrepressible  conflict,"  the 
county  of  Wilkes  in  the  State  of  Georgia  was 
nursing  discordant  factions.  Just  across  the  river 
in  Carolina  lived  the  great  Nullifier.  The  Vir 
ginia  settlers  of  Wilkes  sided  with  him,  while 
scores  of  North  Carolinians,  who  had  come  to  live 
in  the  county,  swore  by  "Old  Hickory."  This 
political  difference  gave  rise  to  numerous  feuds. 
The  two  elements  maintained  their  identity  for 
generations,  and  the  divisions  became  social  as 
well  as  political.  The  Virginians  nursed  their 
State  pride.  The  sons  of  North  Carolina,  over 
shadowed  by  the  Old  Dominion,  clung  to  the 
Union  and  accepted  Andrew  Jackson,  their  friend 
and  neighbor,  as  oracle  and  leader.  The  earliest 
political  division  in  Georgia  was  between  the 
Clarke  and  Crawford  factions.  General  John 
Clarke,  a  sturdy  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  came 
from  North  Carolina,  while  William  H.  Crawford, 
a  Virginian  by  birth  and  a  Georgian  by  residence, 
led  the  Virginia  element.  The  feud  between 

29 


30  ROEK11T  TOO  MB  8. 

Clarke  and  Crawford  gave  rise  to  numerous  duels. 
Then  came  George  M.  Troup  to  reenforce  the 
Crawford  faction  and  defend  States'  Eights,  even 
at  the  point  of  the  sword.  Troup  and  Clarke 
were  rival  candidates  for  Governor  of  Georgia  in 
1825,  and  the  Toombs  family  ardently  fought  for 
Troup.  Young  Toombs  was  but  fifteen,  years  of 
age,  but  politics  had  been  burnt  into  his  ardent 
soul.  Wilkes  had  remained  a  Union  county  until 
this  campaign,  when  the  Troup  and  Toombs  influ 
ence  was  too  strong  for  the  North  Carolina  faction. 
Wilkes,  in  fact,  seemed  to  be  a  watershed  in  early 
politics.  It  was  in  close  touch  with  Jackson  and 
Calhoun,  with  Clarke  and  Crawford,  and  then  with 
Clarke  and  Troup.  On  the  one  side  the  current 
from  the  mountain  streams  melted  into  the  peace 
ful  Savannah  and  merged  into  the  Atlantic  ;  on  the 
other  they  swept  into  the  Tennessee  and  hurried 
off  to  the  Father  of  Waters. 

Kobert  Toombs  cast  his  first  vote  for  Andrew 
Jackson  in  1832.  He  abandoned  the  Union 
Democratic-Republican  party,  however,  after  the 
proclamation  and  force  bill  of  the  Administra 
tion  and  joined  the  States'  Rights  Whigs.  When 
young  Toombs  was  elected  to  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  Georgia  in  October,  1837,  parties  were 
sharply  divided.  The  Democrats,  sustained  by 
the  personal  popularity  of  "  Old  Hickory,"  were 
still  dominant  in  the  State.  The  States'  Rights 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE.  31 

Whi^s,  however,  Lad  a  large  following,  and 
although  not  indorsing  the  doctrines  of  Calhoun, 
the  party  was  still  animated  by  the  spirit  of 
George  M.  Troup.  This  statesman,  just  retired 
from  public  life,  had  been  borne  from  a  sick-bed 
to  the  United  States  Senate  Chamber  to  vote 
against  the  extreme  measures  of  President  Jack 
son.  The  Troup  men  claimed  to  be  loyal  to  the 
Constitution  of  their  country  in  all  its  defined 
grants,  and  conceded  the  right  of  the  Chief  Magis 
trate  to  execute  the  office  so  delegated,  but  they 
resisted  what  they  believed  to  be  a  dangerous 
latitude  of  construction  looking  to  consolidated 
power.  Robert  Toombs  was  not  a  disciple  of 
Calhoun.  While  admiring  the  generalities  and 
theories  of  the  great  Carolinian,  the  young 
Georgian  was  a  more  practical  statesman.  The 
States'  Rights  Whigs  advocated  a  protective 
tariff  and  a  national  bank.  They  believed  that 
the  depreciation  of  the  currency  had  caused  the 
distress  of  the  people  in  the  panic  of  1837,  and 
no  man  in  this  stormy  era  more  vigorously  up 
braided  the  pet-bank  and  sub-treasury  system 
than  Robert  Toombs.  He  introduced  a  resolu 
tion  in  the  legislature  declaring  that  President 
Van  Buren  had  used  the  patronage  of  the  govern 
ment  to  strengthen  his  owTn  party ;  that  he  had 
repudiated  the  practices  and  principles  of  his  patri 
otic  antecedents,  and  "  had  sought  out  antiquated 


32  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

European  systems  for  the  collection,  safe  keeping, 
and  distribution  of  public  moneys— foreign  to  our 
habits,  unsuited  to  our  conditions,  expensive  and 
unsafe  in  operation."  Mr.  Toombs  contended, 
with  all  the  force  that  was  in  him,  that  a  bank  of 
the  United  States,  properly  regulated,  was  "  the 
best,  most  proper  and  economical  means  for  hand 
ling  public  moneys."  Eobert  Toombs  would  not 
have  waited  until  he  was  twenty-seven  years  of 
age  before  entering  public  life,  had  not  the  senti 
ment  of  his  county  been  hostile  to  his  party. 
Wilkes  had  been  a  Union  county,  but  in  1837  it 
returned  to  the  lower  house  two  Democrats,  and 
Eobert  A.  Toombs,  the  only  Whig.  Nothing  but 
his  recognized  ability  induced  the  people  to  make 
an  exception  in  his  favor.  Besides  his  reputation 
as  an  orator  and  advocate,  Toombs  had  just  re 
turned  from  the  Creek  war,  where  he  had  com 
manded  a  company  and  served  under  General 
Winfield  Scott  in  putting  down  the  insurrection 
of  Neahmatha,  the  Indian  chief.  He  now  brought 
to  public  life  the  new  prestige  of  a  soldier.  After 
this,  "  Captain  Toombs  "  was  never  defeated  in  his 
county.  He  was  returned  at  the  annual  elections 
in  1839,  1840,  1842,  and  1843— and  succeeded  in 
preserving  at  home  an  average  Whig  majority  of 
100  votes.  He  did  not  care  for  the  State  Sen 
ate,  preferring  the  more  populous  body,  then 
composed  of  200  members.  Parties  in  the 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE.  33 

State  were  very  evenly  balanced,  but  Mr.  Toombs 
preserved,  in  the  varying  scale  of  politics,  a 
prominent  place  in  the  house.  He  was  made 
chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  by  his  poli 
tical  opponents.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Internal  Improvements,  as  chair 
man  of  the  all-important  Committee  on  Banking, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  State  of  the  He- 
public,  and  in  1842  received  the  vote  of  the  Whig 
minority  in  the  house  for  Speaker.  In  1840  the 
Whigs  gained  control  of  the  government.  The 
Harrison  tidal  wave  swept  their  best  men  to  the 
front  in  State  and  national  councils.  Charles  J. 
Jenkins  of  Richmond  was  elected  speaker  of  the 
house,  and  Mr.  Toombs,  as  chairman  of  the  Bank 
ing  Committee,  framed  the  bill  which  repealed 
the  law  authorizing  the  issue  of  bank  bills  to  the 
amount  of  twice  their  capital  stock.  He  went 
right  to  the  marrow  of  honest  banking  and  sound 
finance  by  providing  for  a  fund  to  redeem,  the  out 
standing  bills,  and  condemned  the  course  of  the 
State  banks  in  flooding  the  State  with  irredeem 
able  promises  to  pay. 

It  was  at  this  session  of  the  General  Assembly 
that  Mr.  Toombs  displayed  the  skill  and  sagacity 
of  a  statesman  in  fearlessly  exposing  a  seductive 
scheme  for  popular  relief.  He  was  called  upon 
to  confront  public  clamor  and  to  fight  in  the  face 
of  fearful  odds,  but  he  did  not  falter. 


34  ROBERT  WOMBS. 

Just  before  the  General  Assembly  of  1840 
adjourned,  Governor  McDonald  sent  an  urgent 
message  to  both  houses  calling  upon  them  to 
frame  some  means  for  the  speedy  relief  of  the 
people.  The  situation  in  Georgia  was  very  dis 
tressing.  The  rains  and  floods  of  that  year  had 
swept  the  crops  •  from  the  fields,  and  there  was 
much  suffering  among  the  planters.  Coming 
upon  the  heel  of  the  session,  the  Whig  members 
of  the  legislature  looked  upon  the  message  as  a 
surprise,  and  rather  regarded  it  as  a  shrewd  po 
litical  stroke.  Mr.  Toombs  was  equal  to  the 
emergency.  He  quickly  put  in  a  resolution  ask 
ing  the  Governor  himself  to  suggest  some  means 
of  popular  relief — throwing  the  burden  of  the 
problem  back  upon  the  executive.  But  Governor 
McDonald  was  armed.  He  drew  his  last  weapon 
from  his  arsenal,  and  used  it  with  formidable 
power.  He  sent  in  an  elaborate  message  to  the 
houses  recommending  that  the  State  make  a  large 
loan  and  deposit  the  proceeds  in  bank,  to  be  given 
out  to  the  people  on  good  security.  The  Senate 
committee,  in  evident  sympathy  with  the  scheme 
for  relief,  reported  a  bill  authorizing  the  issue  of 
two  million  six-year  eight-per-cent.  bonds  ito  be 
loaned  to  private  citizens,  limiting  each  loan  to 
one  thousand  dollars,  and  restricting  the  notes  to 
three  years,  with  eight  per  cent,  interest. 

The  report  of  the  House  Committee  was  pra 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE.  35 

pared  by  Robert  Toombs.  It  was  the  most 
admirable  and  statesmanlike  document  of  that 
day.  Mr.  Toombs  said  that  deliberation  had 

resulted  in  the  conviction  that  the  measure  sucr- 

o 

gested  by  His  Excellency  should  not  be  adopted. 
While  his  committee  was  duly  sensible  of  and 
deeply  regretted  the  pecuniary  embarrassment  of 
many  of  their  fellow-citizens,  he  felt  constrained 
by  a  sense  of  public  duty  to  declare  that  he 
deemed  it  unwise  and  impolitic  to  use  the  credit, 
and  pledge  the  property  and  labor  of  the  whole 
people,  to  supply  the  private  wants  of  a  portion 
only  of  the  people.  The  use  of  the  public  credit, 
he  went  on  to  say,  was  one  of  the  most  important 
and  delicate  powers  which  a  free  people  could  con 
fide  in  their  representatives  ;  it  should  be  jealously 
guarded,  sacredly  protected,  and  cautiously  used, 
even  for  the  attainment  of  the  noblest  patriotic 
ends,  and  never  for  the  benefit  of  one  class  of  the 
community  to  the  exclusion  or  injury  of  the  rest, 
whether  the  demand  grew  put  of  real  or  supposed 
pecuniary  difficulties.  To  relieve  these  difficul 
ties  .by  .use  of  the  public  credit  would  be  to 
substitute  a  public  calamity  for  private  misfor 
tune,  and  would  end  in  the  certain  necessity  of 
imposing  grievous  burdens  in  the  way  of  taxes 
upon  the  many  for  the  benefit  of  the  few.  All 
experience,  Mr.  Toombs  went  on  to  declare,  ad 
monish  us  to  expect  such  results  from  the  pro- 


36  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

posed  relief  measures,  to  adopt  which  would  be 
to  violate  some  of  the  most  sacred  principles  of 
the  social  compact.  All  free  governments,  deriv 
ing  their  just  powers  from,  and  being  established 
for  the  benefit  of,  the  governed,  must  necessarily 
have  power  over  the  property,  and  consequently 
the  credit,  of  the  governed  to  the  extent  of  public 
use,  and  no  further.  And  whenever  government 
assumed  the  right  to  use  the  property  or  credit  of 
the  people  for  any  other  purpose,  it  abused  a 
power  essential  for  the  perfection  of  its  legislative 
duties  in  a  manner  destructive  of  the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  governed,  and  ought  to  be  sternly 
resisted  by  the  people.  The  proposed  measures, 
he  contended,  violated  these  admitted  truths,  as 
serted  the  untenable  principle  that  governments 
should  protect  a  portion  of  the  people,  in  violation 
of  the  rights  of  the  remainder,  from  the  calamities 
consequent  on  unpropitious  seasons  and  private 
misfortunes. 

He  must  have  been  an  indifferent  or  careless 
spectator  of  similar  financial  schemes,  Mr.  Toombs 
declared,  who  could  persuade  himself  that  this 
plan  of  borrowing  money,  to  lend  again  at  the 
same  rate  of  interest,  could  be  performed  without 
loss  to  the  State.  That  loss  must  be  supplied  by 
taxation,  and  to  that  extent,  at  least,  it  will  op 
erate  so  as  to  legislate  money  from  the  pocket  of 
one  citizen  to  that  of  another.  The  committee 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE.  37 

declared  that  it  knew  of  no  mode  of  legislative 

o 

relief  except  the  interposition  of  unconstitutional, 
unwise,  unjust,  and  oppressive  legislation  between 
debtor  and  creditor,  which  did  not  need  their  con 
demnation. 

The  argument  was  exhaustive  and  convincing. 
Never  were  the  powers  of  the  State  or  the  sound 
ness  of  public  credit  more  strongly  set  forth.  The 
whole  scheme  of  relief  was  abandoned,  and  the 
General  Assembly  adjourned. 

The  relief  measures,  however,  had  a  great  effect 
upon  the  campaign.  Rejected  in  the  legislature 
under  the  rattling  fire  and  withering  sarcasm  of 

o  o 

Toombs,  they  were  artfully  used  on  the  hustings. 
"  McDonald  and  Relief "  was  the  slogan.  Men 
talked  airily  about  "deliverance  and  liberty." 
Mr.  Toombs  declared  that  "  humbuggery  was  re 
duced  to  an  exact  science  and  demonstrated  by 
figures."  The  Act  compelling  the  banks  to  make 
cash  payments  was  represented  as  an  unwise  con 
traction  of  the  currency  and  a  great  oppression  to 
the  people.  Governor  McDonald  was  consequently 
reflected  over  William  C.  Dawson,  the  Whig  nom 
inee. 

Robert  Toombs  was  not  a  candidate  for  reelec 
tion  in  1841.  He  worked  hard  at  the  polls  for 
the  Whig  ticket,  and  although  his  candidate  for 
Governor  received  a  majority  of  one  in  Wilkes 
County,  the  Whigs  were  defeated  for  the  legisla- 


38  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ture.  When  he  returned  to  the  Assembly  in  1842 
he  still  found  Governor  McDonald  and  the  Demo 
crats  supporting  a  central  bank  and  the  sub-treas 
ury.  They  clamored  to  restore  public  finances  to 
the  old  system.  The  Democrats  held  the  legisla 
ture  and  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  Wal 
ter  T.  Colquitt  over  Charles  J.  Jenkins.  Although 
a  member  of  the  minority  party,  Mr.  Toombs  was 
appointed  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee. 
Here  his  high  character  and  moral  courage  shone 
conspicuously.  He  proved  a  stone  wall  against 
the  perfect  flood  of  legislation  designed  for  popu 
lar  relief.  To  use  his  own  words  :  "  The  calendar 
was  strong  with  a  heterogeneous  collection  of  bills 
proposing  stay:laws."  He  reported  as  "unwise, 
inexpedient,  and  injurious,"  proposed  Acts  "to 
protect  unfortunate  debtors";  "to  redeem  prop 
erty  in  certain  cases";  also  a  bill  to  "exempt 
from  levy  and  sale  certain  classes  of  property." 
He  held  with  Marshall  the  absolute  inviolability 
of  contracts  ;  he  believed  in  common  honesty  in 
public  and  private  life  ;  he  was  strict  in  all  busi 
ness  obligations ;  he  denounced  the  Homestead  Act 
of  1868,  and  declared  in  his  last  days  that  there 
was  "not  a  dirty  shilling  in  his  pocket."  Mr. 
Toombs  was  nothing  of  the  demagogue.  He  was 
highminded,  fearless,  and  sincere,  and  it  may  be 
said  of  him  what  he  afterward  declared  so  often 
of  Henry  Clay,  that  "  he  would  not  flatter  Nep- 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE,  39 

tune  for  his  trident  or  Jove  for  his  power  to 
thunder."  He  was  called  upon  at  this  session 
to  fight  the  repeal  of  the  law  he  had  framed  in 
1840,  to  regulate  the  system  of  banking.  He  de 
clared  in  eloquent  terms  that  the  State  must  re 
strict  the  issue  of  the  banks  and  compel  their 
payment  in  specie.  The  experiment  of  banking 
on  public  credit  had  failed,  he  said.  It  had 
brought  loss  to  the  government,  distress  to  the 
people,  arid  had  sullied  the  good  faith  of  Geor 
gia. 

It  was  at  this  session  of  the  legislature  that  the 
Democrats  proposed  a  vote  of  censure  upon  John 
McPherson  Berrien,  United  States  Senator  from 
Georgia,  for  his  advocacy  of  a  national  bank.  Mr. 
Toombs  ardently  defended  Senator  Berrien.  He 
said  that  the  State  legislature  was  not  the  custodian 
of  a  senator's  conscience,  and  held  that  the  people  of 
Georgia  sanctioned  the  expediency  and  utility  of 
a  national  bank.  When  the  resolution  of  censure 
came  up  in  the  house,  the  Whigs  refused  to  vote, 
and  raised  the  point  of  "  no  quorum."  Speaker 
pro  tern.  Wellborn,  who  presided,  counted  a  quo 
rum  and  declared  the  resolutions  adopted.  Mr. 
Toombe  fired  up  at  this  unusual  decision.  He 
threw  himself  before  the  Speaker  with  impetuous 
appeal  and  called  for  a  reversal  of  the  decision. 
But  it  was  a  Democratic  house,  and  the  Speaker 
was  sustained  by  a  vote  of  96  to  40. 


40  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

The  craze  for  internal  improvements  now 
swept  over  the  country.  The  Whigs  were  espe 
cially  active,  and  we  find  resolutions  adopted  by 
the  General  Assembly,  calling  on  the  Federal 
Government  to  create  ports  of  entry  and  to  build 
government  foundries  and  navy  yards  on  the 
Southern  seaboard.  Mr.  Toombs  was  chairman 
of  the  Committee  of  Internal  Improvements,  but 
his  efforts  were  directed  toward  the  completion  of 
the  Western  and  Atlantic  Kailroad.  These  en 
terprises  had  overshadowed  the  waterways,  and 
the  railway  from  Charleston,  S.  C.,  to  Augusta, 
Ga.,  one  of  the  very  first  in  the  country,  had  just 
been  completed.  Already  a  company  had  em 
barked  upon  the  construction  of  the  Georgia  Rail 
road,  and  on  May  21,1837,  the  first  locomotive 
ever  put  in  motion  on  the  soil  of  Georgia  moved 
out  from  Augusta.  A  local  paper  described  the 
event  in  sententious  terms  : 

This  locomotive  started  beautifully  and  majestically 
from  the  depository  and,  following  the  impetus  given,  flew 
with  surprising  velocity  on  the  road  which  hereafter  is  to 
be  her  natural  element. 

The  General  Assembly  decided  that  these  rail 
lines  should  have  an  outlet  to  the  West.  This 
great  road  was  finally  built  and  operated  from 
Atlanta  to  Chattanooga,  and  is  still  owned  by  the 
State,  a  monument  to  the  sagacity  and  persistency 
of  Toonibs  and  his  associates  in  1840.  The  great 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE.  41 

possibilities  of  these  iron  highways  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  statesmen  of  that  day,  Mr.  Calhoun 
seemed  to  drop  for  a  time  his  philosophical  studies 
of  States  and  slavery  and  to  dream  of  railroads 
and  commercial  greatness.  He  proposed  the  con 
nection  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  with  the  Mississippi 
River  and  the  great  West,  through  Cumberland 
Gap — a  brilliant  and  feasible  scheme.  Governor 
Gilmer  of  Georgia  declared  in  his  message  that 
these  projected  roads  "  would  add  new  bonds  to 
the  Union."  But  King  Cotton,  with  his  millions 
in  serfdom,  issued  his  imperial  decrees,  and  not 
even  this  great  railroad  development  could  keep 
down  the  tremendous  tragedy  of  the  century. 

One  of  the  measures  to  which  Mr.  Toombs  de 
voted  great  attention  during  his  legislative  term 
was  the  establishment  of  a  State  Supreme  Court. 
This  bill  was  several  times  defeated,  but  finally 
in  1843  passed  the  house  by  a  vote  of  88  to  86. 
It  was  the  scene  of  many  of  his  forensic  triumphs. 
He  also  introduced,  during  the  sessions  of  1842 
and  1843,  bills  to  abolish  suretyship  in  Georgia. 
This  system  had  been  severely  abused  In  the 
flush  times  men  indorsed  without  stint,  and 
then  during  the  panic  of  1837  "reaped  the  whirl 
wind."  Fortunes  were  swept  away,  individual 
credit  ruined,  and  families  brought  to  beggary  by 
this  reckless  system  of  surety.  What  a  man 
seldom  refused  to  do  for  another,  Mr.  Toombs 


42  EGBERT  TOOMBS, 

strove  to  reach  by  law.  But  the  system  had  be 
come  too  firmly  intrenched  in  the  financial  habits 
of  the  people.  His  bill,  which  he  distinctly  stated 
was  to  apply  alone  to  future  and  not  past  con 
tracts,  only  commanded  a  small  minority  of  votes. 
It  was  looked  upon  as  an  abridgment  of  personal 
liberty.  Mr.  Toombs  exerted  all  of  his  efforts  in 
behalf  of  this  bill,  and  it  became  quite  an  issue  in 
Georgia.  It  is  not  a  little  strange  that  when 
Robert  Toombs  was  dead,  it  was  found  that  his 
own  estate  was  involved  by  a  series  of  indorse 
ments  which  he  had  given  in  Atlanta  to  the 
Kimball  House  Company.  Had  he  maintained 
the  activity  of  his  younger  days,  he  would  prob 
ably  have  turned  this  deal  into  a  profitable  invest 
ment.  The  complication  was  finally  arranged, 
but  his  large  property  came  near  being  swept 
away  under  the  same  system  of  surety  he  had 
striven  to  abolish. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ELECTED    TO    CONGEESS. 

public  life  about  the  same  time,  liv 
ing  a  short  distance  apart,  professing  the  same 
political  principles,  practicing  in  the  same  courts 
of  law,  were  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Taliaferro 
and  Robert  Toombs  of  Wilkes.  Entirely  unlike 
in  physical  organism  and  mental  make-up,  differ 
ing  entirely  in  origin  and  views  of  life,  these  two 
men  were  close  personal  friends,  and  throughout 
an  eventful  period  of  more  than  half  a  century, 
preserved  an  affectionate  regard  for  each  other. 

Mr.  Stephens  was  delicate,  sensitive,  conserva 
tive,  and  sagacious,  while  Toombs  was  impetuous, 
overpowering,  defiant,  and  masterful.  Stephens 
was  small,  swarthy,  fragile,  while  Toombs  was 
leonine,  full-blooded,  and  majestic,  And  yet  in 
peace  and  war  these-  two  men  walked  hand  in 
hand,  and  the  Iast4  public  appearance  of  Robert 
Toombs  was  when,  bent  and  weeping,  he  bowed 
his  gray  head  at  the  coffin  and  pronounced  the 
funeral  oration  over  Alexander  Stephens. 

In   the    General    Assembly    of    1843,    Robert 
Toombs   was   a  member   of   the   house,  but    his 


43 


44  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ability  and  power  Lad  marked  him  as  a  candidate 
for  Congress,  and  Mr.  Stephens  had  already  been 
promoted  from  the  State  Senate  to  a  seat  in  the 
national  legislature  at  Washington.  The  law  re 
quiring  the  State  to  choose  congressmen  on  the 
district  plan  had  been  passed,  and  the  General 
Assembly  was  then  engaged  in  laying  off  the 
counties  into  congressional  districts.  The  bill,  as 
first  reported,  included  the  counties  of  Wilkes  and 
Taliaferro  in  the  second  district  of  Georgia.  Here 
was  a  problem.  Toombs  and  Stephens  had  been 
named  as  Whig  candidates  for  the  Clay  campaign 
of  1844.  To  have  them  clash  would  have  been  to 
deprive  the  State  of  their  talents  in  the  national 
councils.  It  would  be  interesting  to  speculate  as 
to  what  would  have  been  the  result  had  these 
two  men  been  opposed.  Stephens  was  naturally 
a  Union  man,  and  was  no  very  ardent  advocate  of 
slavery.  Toombs  inherited  the  traditions  of  the 
Virginia  landowners.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
the  firmness  of  the  one  would  have  been  a  foil  for 
the  fire  of  the  other.  History  might  have  been 
written  differently  had  not  the  conference  com 
mittee  in  the  Georgia  Legislature  in  1843  altered 
the  schedule  of  districts,  placing  Taliaferro  in  the 
seventh  and  Wilkes  in  the  eighth  Congressional 
district.  Both  were  safely  Whig,  and  the  future 
Vice-President  and  premier  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  now  prepared  for  the  canvass  which  was 


ELECTED   TO   CONGRESS.  45 

to  plunge  them  into  their  duties  as  members  of  the 
national  Congress. 

Robert  Toombs  had  already  made  his  appear 
ance  in  national  politics  in  1840.     Although  still 
a  member  of  the  Georgia  Legislature,  he  took  a 
deep  interest  in  the  success  of  the  "Whig  ticket  for 
President.     His  power  as  a  stump  speaker  was 
felt  in  eastern  Georgia,  where  the  people  gathered 
at   the  "log   cabin  and   hard   cider"  campaigns. 
The   most   daring   feat    of   young   Toombs,   just 
thirty  years   old,  was   in  crossing  the   Savannah 
River  and   meeting   George   McDuffie,  the  great 
Democrat  of  South  Carolina,  then  in  the  zenith 
of  his  fame.     An  eye-witness  of  this  contest  ^  be 
tween  the  champions  of  Van  Buren  and  Harrison 
declared  that  McDuffie  was  "  harnessed  lightning  " 
himself.     He  was  a  nervous,  impassioned  speaker. 
When  the  rash  young  Georgian  crossed  over  to 
Willington,   S.  C.,  to  meet   the  lion    in   his   den, 
Toombs  rode  horseback,  and  it  was  noticed  that 
his  shirt  front  was  stained  with  tobacco  juice,  and 
yet  Toombs  was   a  remarkably   handsome   man. 
"  Genius  sat  upon  his  brow,  and  his  eyes  were  as 
black  as  death  and  bigger  than   an  ox's." 
presence   captivated   even   the   idolaters  ^of   Mc 
Duffie.     His    argument    and   invective,    his   over 
powering  eloquence,  linger  in  the  memory  of  old 
men  now.     McDuffie  said  of  him:  "I  have  heard 
John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  and  met  Burgess  of 


46  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

Rhode  Island,  but  this  wild  Georgian  is  a  Mira- 
beau." 

In  1844  Robert  Toombs  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Baltimore  convention  which  nominated  Henry 
Clay,  and  during  this  visit  he  made  a  speech  in 
New  York  which  attracted  wide  attention.  It 
threatened  to  raise  a  storm  about  his  head  in 
Georgia.  In  his  speech  he  arraigned  Mr.  Calhoun 
for  writing  his  "  sugar  letter "  to  Louisiana,  and 
for  saying  that  he  would  protect  sugar  because  it 
was  the  production  of  slave  labor.  Mr.  Toombs 
declared :  "  If  any  discrimination  is  made  between 
free  and  slave  labor  it  ought  to  be  in  favor  of  free 
labor."  "  But,"  said  he,  "  the  Whigs  of  Georgia 
want  no  such  partial  protection  as  Mr.  Calhoun  of 
fers  ;  they  want  protection  for  all  classes  of  labor 
and  home  industry.  The  Whigs  protest  against 
these  efforts  to  prejudice  the  South  against  the 
North,  or  the  North  against  the  South.  They  have 
a  common  interest  as  well  as  a  common  history- 
The  blood  that  was  mingled  at  Yorktown  and  at 
Eutaw  cannot  be  kept  at  enmity  forever.  The 
Whigs  of  Bunker  Hill  are  the  same  as  the  Whigs 
of  Georgia."  Mr.  Toombs  was  actually  charged 
in  this  campaign  with  being  an  Abolitionist.  He 
was  accused  of  saying  in  a  speech  at  Mallorysville, 
Ga,,  during  the  Harrison  campaign,  that  slavery 
was  "  a  moral  and  political  evil."  This  was  now 
brought  up  against  him.  Mr.  Toombs  admitted 


ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS.  47 

saying  that  slavery  was  a  political  evil.     He  wrote 
a  ringing  letter  to  his  constituents,  in  which  he  de 
clared  that  "  the  affected  fear  and  pretended  sus 
picion  of  a  part  of  the  Democratic  press  in  relation 
to  my  views  are  well  understood  by  the   people. 
I  have  no  language  to  express  my  scorn  and  con 
tempt  for  the  whole  crew.     I  have  no  other  reply 
to  make  to  these  common  sewers  of  filth  and  false 
hood.     If  I  had  as  many  arms  as  Briareus  they 
would  be  too  few  to  correct  the  misrepresentations 
of  speeches  I  have  made  in  the  past' six  months." 
It  was  on  the  3d  of  October,  1844,  that  Robert 
.  Toombs  spoke  at  a  memorable  political  meeting  in 
Augusta,  Ga.     Augusta  was  in  the  heart  of  the 
district  which  he  was  contesting  for  Congress,  and 
the  Democrats,  to  strengthen  their  cause,  brought 
over  McDuffie  from  South  Carolina.     Large  crowds 
were  present  in  the  shady  yard  surrounding  the 
City  Hall ;  seats  had  been  constructed  there,  while 
back  in  the  distance  long  trenches  were  dug,  and 
savory  meats  were  undergoing  the  famous  process 
of  barbecue.     Speaking  commenced  at  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning,,  and,  with  a  short  rest  for  dinner, 
there  were  seven  hours  of  oratory.     People  seldom 
tired  in  those  days  of  forensic  meetings.     Toombs 
was  on  his  mettle.     He  denounced  the  Democrats 
for  dragging  the  slavery  question  before  the  people 
to  operate  upon  their  fears.     It  was  a  bugbear 
everlastingly  used  to  cover  up  the  true  Question  at 


48  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

issue.  It  was  kept  up  to  operate  on  the  fears  of 
the  timid  and  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the 
unsuspecting. 

The  young  Whig  then  launched  into  a  glowing 
defense  of  the  National  Bank.  The  Democrats 
had  asked  where  was  the  authority  to  charter  a 
bank  ?  He  would  reply,  "  Where  was  the  author 
ity,  in  so  many  words,  to  build  lighthouses  ?  Dem 
ocrats  were  very  strict  construction}  sts  when  it  was 
necessary  to  accomplish  their  political  purposes, 
but  always  found  a  way  to  get  around  these  doubts 
when  occasion  required."  He  taunted  McDuffie 
with  having  admitted  that  Congress  had  power  to. 
charter  a  bank. 

Mr.  Toombs  contended  that  a  tariff,  with  the 
features  of  protection  to  American  industry,  had 
existed  since  the  foundation  of  the  government. 
This  great  system  of  "plunder"  had  been  sup 
ported  by  Jefferson.  Eloquently  warming  up  under 
the  Democratic  charge  that  the  tariff  was  a  system 
of  robbery,  Mr.  Toombs  appealed  to  every  Whig 
and  Democrat  as  an  American  who  boasted  of  this 
government  as  "  a  model  to  all  nations  of  the  earth  ; 
as  the  consummation  of  political  wisdom;  who  asks 
the  oppressed  of  all  nations  to  come  and  place  him 
self  under  its  protection,  because  it  upholds  the 
weak  against  the  strong  and  protects  the  poor 
against  the  rich,  whether  it  has  been  going  on  in  a 
system  of  plunder  ever  since  it  sprang  into  power." 
"It  is  not  true,"  he  said,  "  it  is  not  true  ! " 


ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS.  49 

Turning  with  prophetic  ken  to  his  Augusta 
friends,  he  asked  what  would  be  the  effect  were 
the  Savannah  River  turned  through  the  beautiful 
plains  of  Augusta,  and  manufactures  built  up  where 
the  industrious  could  find  employment.  Hundreds 
of  persons,  he  said,  would  be  brought  together  to 
spin  the  raw  cotton  grown  in  the  State,  to  con 
sume  the  provisions  which  the  farmers  raised,  thus 
diversifying  their  employment  and  increasing  their 
profits.  "  Would  any  man  tell  me,"  shouted  the 
orator,  his  eyes  blazing,  and  his  arms  uplifted, 
"  that  this  would  impoverish  the  country — would 
make  paupers  of  the  people  ?  To  increase  the 
places  where  the  laborer  may  sell  his  labor  would 
never  make  him  a  pauper.  Be  controlled,"  said 
he,  "  in  the  administration  of  government  and 
in  all  other  things,  by  the  improvement  of  the  age. 
Do  not  tie  the  living  to  the  dead.  Others  may 
despise  the  lights  of  science  or  experience ;  they 
have  a  right,  if  they  choose,  to  be  governed  by  the 
dreams  of  economists  who  have  rejected  practical 
evidence.  But  no  such  consistency  is  mine.  I 
will  have  none  of  it." 

McDuffie  in  his  speech  declared  that  all  the 
plundering  which  England  had  been  subjected  to 
from  the  days  of  Hen  gist  and  Horsa  could  not 
equal  the  plundering  which  the  people  of  the  ex 
porting  States  had  sustained. 

Toombs  answered  that  if  a  man  must  pay  tax  to 
sustain  the  government  it  was  better  he  should 


50  EGBERT  TO  OMB  8. 

pay  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  benefit  his  own  country 
men  than  for  the  benefit  of  foreign  manufacturers 
and  foreign  capitalists. 

Mr.  Toombs  alluded  to  a  letter  of  James  K. 
Polk  to  a  Pennsylvania  manufacturer,  as  leaning 
toward  protection. 

McDuffie  said  that  Folk's  letter  was  "  composed 
for  that  meridian." 

"  Henry  Clay  does  not  need  an  interpreter," 
cried  Toombs.  "  He  is  the  same  in  the  North  as  in 
the  South.  He  would  rather  be  right  than  Presi 
dent." 

"Dallas,  the  Democratic  nominee  for  vice 
president,  is  a  high-tariff  man,"  said  Toombs. 
"He  voted  for  the  tariff  of  1832  and  against  the 
compromise  measures.  Although  the  sword  was 
drawn  to  drink  the  blood  of  McDuffie's  friends  in 
Carolina,  Dallas  would  still  adhere  to  his  pound  of 
flesh." 

Toombs  concluded  his  great  reply  to  McDuflie : 
"  We  have  lived  under  the  present  order  of  things 
for  fifty  years,  and  can  continue  to  live  under  it 
for  one  thousand  years  to  come,  if  the  people  of 
the  South  are  but  content  to  stand  upon  their 
rights  as  guaranteed  in  the  Constitution,  and  not 
work  confusion  by  listening  to  ambitious  politi 
cians  :  by  taking  as  much  pains  to  preserve  a  good 
understanding  with  our  Northern  brethren,  the 
vast  majority  of  whom  are  inclined  to  respect  the 
limitations  of  the  Constitution." 


ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS.  51 

This  was  perhaps  the  greatest  political  meeting 
Georgia  ever  held.  Politics  were  at  white  heat. 
Toombs  and  McDuffie  each  spoke  two  hours- 
The  campaign  cry  was  for  the  Whigs :  "  Clay, 
Frelinghuysen,  Toombs,  and  our  glorious  Union," 
and  by  the  Democrats:  "Polk,  Dallas,  Texas, 
and  Oregon."  It  was  Whig  vs.  Loco-foco.  The 
Whig  leaders  of  the  South  were  Pettigru,  Thomp 
son,  and  Yeadon  of  South  Carolina,  Merriweather, 
Toombs,  and  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  while  the  Dem 
ocratic  lights  were  McDuffie,  Ehett,  and  Pickens 
of  South  Carolina,  and  Charlton,  Cobb,  Colquitt, 
and  Herschel  V.  Johnson  of  Georgia. 

The  campaign  of  1844  was  bitter  in  Georgia. 
The  Whigs  carried  the  burden  of  a  protective 
tariff,  while  the  memories  of  nullification  and  the 
Force  bill  were  awakened  by  a  ringing  letter  from 
George  M.  Troup,  condemning  the  tariff  in  his  vig 
orous  style.  This  forced  Mr.  Toombs,  in  his  letter 
accepting  the  congressional  nomination,  to  review 
the  subject  in  its  relation  to  the  States7  Eights 
party  in  Georgia.  "The  tariff  of  1824,"  said  he, 
"  which  was  voted  for  by  Andrew  Jackson,  car 
ried  the  principle  of  protection  further  than  any 
preceding  one.  Jackson  was  the  avowed  friend 
of  the  protective  policy,  yet  he  received  the  vote 
of  Georgia,  regardless  of  party.  In  1828  the 
Harrisburg  convention  demanded  additional  pro 
tection,  and  this  measure  was  carried  through 
Congress  by  the  leading  men  of  the  Democratic 


52  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

party.  It  created  discontent  in  the  South,  and  the 
Act  of  1832  professed  to  modify  the  tariff-^— but 
this  measure  not  proving  satisfactory  was  '  nulli 
fied  '  by  South  Carolina.  General  Jackson  then 
issued  his  proclamation  which  pronounced  princi 
ples  and  issues  utterly  at  war  with  the  rights  of 
the  States,  and  subversive  of  the  character  of  the 
government.  The  opponents  of  consolidating  prin 
ciples  went  into  opposition.  Delegates  met  in 
Milledgeville  in  1833,  adopted  the  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  resolutions,  denounced  the  sentiments  of 
Jackson's  proclamation,  and  affirmed  the  doctrine 
of  States'  Eights." 

"  The  Democratic  party  was  then,"  said  Toombs, 
"cheek  by  jowl  with  the  whole  tariff  party  in 
the  United  States,  sustaining  General  Jackson, 
and  stoutly  maintaining  that  the  leaders  of  that 
spirited  little  band  in  our  sister  State,  whose 
talent  shed  a  glory  over  their  opposition,  deserved 
a  halter.  They  sustained  John  C.  Forsythe  in 
voting  against  the  Compromise  bill — that  peace 
offering  of  the  illustrious  Henry  Clay." 

Mr.  Toombs  declared  in  this  campaign  that  the 
effect  of  a  tariff  on  the  productive  industries  of  a 
country  has  been  a  disputed  question  among  the 
wisest  statesmen  for  centuries,  and  that  these 
influences  are  subject  to  so  many  disturbing 
causes,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  that  they  are 
incapable  of  being  reduced  to  fixed  principles. 


ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS.  53 

Mr.  Toombs  did  not  hesitate,  however,  to  condemn 
"the  theories  of  the  South  Carolina  school  of 
politics." 

Mr.  Toombs  opposed  the  acquisition  of  Texas. 
He  did  not  believe  the  North  would  consent.  "  It 
matters  not,"  he  said,  "  that  Mexico  is  weak,  that 
the  acquisition  is  easy.  The  question  is  just  the 
same  :  Is  it  right,  is  it  just,  is  it  the  policy  of  this 
country  to  enlarge  its  territory  by  conquest  ?  The 
principle  is  condemned  by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  by 
reason,  and  by  revelation.  A  people  who  love 
justice  and  hate  wrong  and  oppression  cannot  ap 
prove  it.  War  in  a  just  cause  is  a  great  calamity 
to  any  people,  and  can  only  be  justified  by  the 
highest  necessity.  A  people  who  go  to  war  with 
out  just  and  sufficient  cause,  with  no  other  motive 
than  pride  and  love  of  glory,  are  enemies  to  the 
human  race  and  deserve  the  execration  of  all  man 
kind.  What,  then,  must  be  the  judgment  of  a 
war  for  plunder?"  He  denounced  the  whole 
thing  as  a  land  job,  and  declared  that  he  would 
rather  have  "  the  Union  without  Texas  than  Texas 
without  the  Union." 

The  Democratic  opponent  of  Mr.  Toombs  in 
this  canvass  was  Hon.  Edward  J.  Black  of  Scre- 
ven,  who  had  been  in  Congress  since  1838.  The 
new  district  was  safely  Whig,  but  the  young 
candidate  had  to  fight  the  prestige  of  McDuffie 
and  Troup  and  opposition  from  numberless 


54  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

sources.  It  was  charged  that  he  always  voted  in 
the  Georgia  Legislature  to  raise  taxes.  He  re. 
torted,  "  It  is  right  to  resort  to  taxation  to  pay  the 
honest  debt  of  a  State.  I  did  vote  to  raise  taxes, 
and  I  glory  'in  it.  It  was  a  duty  I  owed  the 
State,  and  I  would  go  to  the  last  dollar  to  preserve 
her  good  name  and  honor." 

While  Mr.  Toombs  was  making  a  speech  in 
this  canvass  a  man  in  the  audience  charged  him 
with  having  voted  for  the  free  banking  law  and 
against  the  poor-school  fund.  "  The  gentleman," 
said  Mr.  Toombs,  "seems  to  find  pleasure  in 
reveling  in  my  cast-off  errors.  I  shall  not  dis 
turb  him." 

"  How  is  this,  Mr.  Toombs,"  shouted  a  Demo 
crat  at  another  time,  "  here  is  a  vote  of  yours 
in  the  house  journal  I  do  not  like." 

"  Well,  my  friend,  there  are  several  there  that  I 
do  not  like  :  now  what  are  you  going  to  do  about 
it?" 

Especially  was  opposition  bitter  to  Henry 
Clay.  Cartoons  were  published  from  Northern 
papers,  of  Clay  whipping  a  negro  slave,  with  this 
inscription:  "The  Mill  Boy  of  the  Slashes." 
Pictures  appeared  in  the  Democratic  papers  of  a 
human  figure  surmounted  by  a  pistol,  a  bottle,  and 
a  deck  of  cards.  To  this  a  'resume  of  Clay's  mis 
deeds  was  appended : 

"In  1805  quarreled  with  Colonel  Davis  of  Ken- 


ELECTED  TO  CONGRESS.  s5 

tucky,   which   led    to   his    first    duel.     In    1808 
challenged  Humphrey  Marshall,  and   fired  three 
times  at  his  breast.     In  1825  challenged  the  great 
John  Randolph,  and  fired  once  at  his  breast.     In 
1838  he  planned  the  Cilley  duel,  by  which  a  mur 
der  was  committed  and  a  wife  made  a  mourner. 
In    1841,  when    sixty-five    years    old,  and  gray- 
headed,  is  under  a  five  thousand  dollar  bond  _  to 
keep  the  peace.     At  twenty-nine  he  perjured  him 
self  to  secure  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
In  1824,  made  the  infamous  bargain  with  Adams 
by  which  he  sold  out  for  a  six  thousand  dollar 
office.     He  is  well  known  as  a  gambler  and  Sab 
bath-breaker." 

But  the  eloquent  Harry  of  the  West  had  a  large 
and  devoted   following.     He  visited   Georgia  in 
March  of  this  year,  and  charmed  the  people  by  his 
eloquence  and  magnetism.     Robert  Toombs  had 
met  him  at  the  social  board  and  had  been  won  by 
his  superb  mentality  and  fine  manners.     Women 
paid  him  the  tribute  of  their  presence  wherever 
he   spoke,  and   little   children   scattered  flowers 
along  his  path.     But  the  November  election  m 
Georgia,  as  elsewhere,  was  adverse  to  the  party  ot 
Henry  Clay.      Toombs  and  Stephens  were  sent 
to  Confess,  but  the  electoral  vote  of  Georgia  was 
cast  for  Polk  and  Dallas,  and  the  Whigs,  who 
loved  Clay  as  a  father,  regarded  his  defeat  as  a 
personal  affliction  as  well  as  a  public  calamity. 


CHAPTER  V. 

IN    THE    LOWER   HOUSE. 

EGBERT  TOOMBS  took  his  seat  in  the  twenty- 
ninth  Congress  in  December,  1845,  The  Demo 
crats  organized  the  House  by  the  election  of 
John  W.  Davis  of  Indiana,  Speaker.  The  House 
was  made  up  of  unusually  strong  men,  who  after 
ward  became  noted  in  national  affairs.  Hannibal 
Hamlin  was  with  the  Maine  delegation ;  ex-Presi 
dent  John  Quincy  Adams  had  been  elected  from 
Massachusetts  with  Kobert  C.  Wiuthrop ;  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  was  there  from  Illinois ;  David  Wil- 
mot  from  Pennsylvania;  R.  Barn  well  Rhett  and 
Armistead  Burt  from  South  Carolina;  Geo.  C. 
Droomgoole  and  Robert  M.  T.  Hunter  of  Virginia, 
Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee,  were  members,  as 
were  Henry  W.  Hilliard  and  W.  L.  Yancey  of 
Alabama,  Jefferson  Davis  and  Jacob  Thompson 
of  Mississippi,  and  John  Slidell  of  Louisiana. 
Toombs,  Stephens,  and  Cobb  were  the  most 
prominent  figures  in  the  Georgia  delegation. 

The  topics  uppermost  in  the  public  mind  of 
that  day  were  the  Oregon  question,  Texas,  and 
the  ubiquitous  tariff.  It  looked  at  one  time  as  if 
war  with  Great  Britain  were  unavoidable.  Presi- 

56 


IN  TEE  LOWER  HOUSfi.  ^ 

dent  Polk  occupied  an  extreme  position,  and 
declared  in  Ms  message  to  Congress  that  onr  title 
to  the  whole  of  Oregon  was  clear.  The  boundary 
of  the  ceded  territory  was  unsettled.  The  Demo 
crats  demanded  the  occupation  of  Oregon,  with 
the  campaign  cry  of  "  fifty -four  forty  or  fight." 

Mr.  Toombs  did  not  accept  President  Polk's 
position.  His  first  speech  in  the  House  was  made 
January  12,  1846,  and  at  once  placed  him  in  the 
front  rank  of  orators  and  statesmen.  He  said 
that  it  was  not  clear  to  him  that  our  title  was 
exceptional  up  to  54°  40'.  Our  claim  to  the  terri 
tory  north  of  the  Columbia  River  was  the  Spanish 
title  only,  and  this  had  been  an  inchoate  right. 

Mr.  Toombs  wanted  the  question  settled  by 
reason.  He  impetuously  declared  that  "neither 
the  clamors  within  nor  without  this  hall,  nor  the 
ten  thousand  British  cannon,  floating  on  every 
ship,  or  mounted  on  every  island,  shall  influence 
my  decision  in  a  question  like  this."  He  was  for 
peace— for  honorable  peace.  "It  is  the  mother 
of  all  the  virtues  and  hopes  of  mankind,"  No 
man  would  go  further  than  he  to  obtain  honorable 
peace;  but  dishonorable  peace  was  worse  than 
war — it  was  the  worst  of  all  evil. 

War  was  the  greatest  and  the  most  horrible  of 
calamities.  Even  a  war  for  liberty  itself  was 
rarely  compensated  by  the  consequences.  'Yet 
the  common  judgment  of  mankind  consigned  to 


58  ROBERT  TOOM3S. 

lasting  infamy  the  people  who  would  surrender 
their  rights  and  freedom  for  the  sake  of  a  dis 
honest  peace." 

"  Let  us,"  cried  the  speaker,  turning  to  his 
Southern  colleagues,  "  let  us  repress  any  unworthy 
sectional  feeling  which  looks  only  to  the  attain 
ment  of  sectional  power." 

His  conclusion  was  an  apotheosis  of  Georgia  as 
a  Union  State.  He  said :  "  Mr.  Speaker,  Georgia 
w^ants  peace,  but  she  would  not  for  the  sake  of 
peace  yield  any  of  her  own  or  the  nation's  rights. 
A  new  career  of  prosperity  is  now  before  her; 
new  prospects,  bright  and  fair,  open  to  her  vision 
and  lie  ready  for  her  grasp,  and  she  fully  appreci 
ates  her  position.  She  has  at  length  begun  to 
avail  herself  of  her  advantages  by  forming  a  great 
commercial  line  between  the  Atlantic  and  the 
West.  She  is  embarking  in  enterprises  of  intense 
importance,  and  is  beginning  to  provide  manufac 
tures  for  her  unpaid  laborers.  She  sees  nothing 
but  prosperity  ahead,  and  peace  is  necessary  in 
order  to  reveal  it;  but  still,  if  war  must  come,  if 
it  has  been  decreed  that  Oregon  must  be  conse 
crated  to  liberty  in  the  blood  of  the  brave  and 
the  sufferings  of  the  free,  Georgia  will  be  found 
ready  with  her  share  of  the  offering,  and,  what 
ever  may  be  her  sacrifice,  she  will  display  a  mag 
nanimity  as  great  as  the  occasion  and  as  prolonged 
as  the  conflict." 


IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE.  ^ 

Mr.  Toombs  indorsed  the  conservative  action  of 
the  Senate,  which  forced  President  Polk  from  his 
extreme  position  and  established  the  parallel  of 
49°  as  the  northern  boundary. 

The  tariff  bill  of  1846  was  framed,  as  President 
Polk  expressed  it,  in  the  interest  of  lower  duties, 
and  it  changed  the  basis  of  assessment  from  spe 
cific,  or  minimum  duties,  to  duties  ad  valorem. 

Mr.    Toombs    made   a   most   elaborate   speech 
against   this   bill   in   July,  1846.     If  his  Oregon 
speech  had  shown  thorough  familiarity  with  the 
force  and  effect  of  treaties  and  the  laws  of  na 
tions,  his  tariff  speech  proved  him  a  student  of 
fiscal  matters  and  a  master  of  finance.     His  gen 
ius,  as  Jefferson  Davis  afterward  remarked,  lay  de 
cidedly  in  this  direction.     Mr.  Toombs  announced 
in  his  tariff  speech  that  the  best  of  laws,  especially 
tax  laws,  were  but  approximations  of  human  jus 
tice.     He  entered  into  an  elaborate  argument  to 
controvert  the  idea  that  low  tariff  meant  increased 
revenue.     The  history  of  such  legislation,  he  con 
tended,  had  been  that  the  highest  tariff  had  raised 
the  most  money.     Mr.  Toombs  combated  the  ad 
valorem  principle  of  levying  duty  upon  imports. 
Mr.  Toombs    declared    to   his  constituents   in 
September,  1846,  that  the  President  had  marched 
his  army  into  Mexico  without  authority  of  law. 
"The  conquest  and  dismemberment  of    Mexico, 
however    brilliant    may  be   the    success   of    our 


60  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

arms,"  said    he,  "will  not  redound  to  the  glory 
of  our  republic." 

The  Whigs  approached  the  Presidential  cam 
paign  of  1848  with  every  chance  of  success. 
They  still  hoped  that  the  Sage  of  Ashland 
might  be  the  nominee.  George  W.  Crawford, 
ex-Governor  of  Georgia,  and  afterward  mem 
ber  of  the  Taylor  Cabinet,  perceiving  that  the 
drift  in  the  West  was  against  Mr.  Clay,  of 
fered  a  resolution  in  the  Whig  convention  that 
"whatever  may  have  been  our  personal  prefer 
ences,  we  feel  that  in  yielding  them  at  the  pres 
ent  time,  we  are  only  pursuing  Mr0  Clay's  own  illus 
trious  example."  Mr.  Toombs  stated  to  his  con 
stituents  that  Clay  could  not  be  nominated  be 
cause  Ohio  had  declared  that  no  man  who  had  op 
posed  the  Wilmot  Proviso  could  get  the  vote  of 
that  State.  The  Whigs,  who  had  opposed  the 
Mexican  war,  now  reaped  its  benefits  by  nominat 
ing  one  of  its  heroes  to  the  Presidency,  and  Zach- 
ary  Taylor  of  Louisiana  became  at  once  a  pop 
ular  candidate.  Millard  Fillmore  of  New  York 
was  named  for  vice  president,  and  "  Eough  and 
Ready  "  clubs  were  soon  organized  in  every  part 
of  Georgia.  The  venerable  William  H.  Crawford 
headed  the  Whig  electoral  ticket  in.  Georgia,  while 
Toombs,  Stephens,  and  Thomas  W.  Thomas  led 
the  campaign. 

The  issue  of  the  campaign  in  Georgia  was  the 


IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE.  61 

Clayton  compromise  which  the  Georgia  senators 
had  sustained,  but  which  Stephens  and  Toombs 
had  defeated  in  the  House.  This  compromise 
proposed  that  all  questions  concerning  slavery  in 
the  governments  of  the  ceded  territory  be  referred 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Toombs  declared  that  the  Mexican  law  prohibiting 
slavery  was  still  valid  and  would  so  remain ;  that 
Congress  and  not  the  courts  must  change  this 

law. 

The  Clayton  compromise,  Mr.  Toombs  said,  was 
only  intended  as  "  the  Euthanasia  of  States'  Eights. 
When  our  rights  are  clear,  security  for  them 
should  be  free  from  all  ambiguity.  We  ought 
never  to  surrender  territory,  until  it  shall  be 
wrested  from  us  as  we  have  wrested  it  ffom 
Mexico.  Such  a  surrender  would  degrade  and 
demoralize  our  section  and  disable  us  for  effective 
resistance  against  future  aggression.  It  is  far 
better  that  this  new  acquisition  should  be  the 
grave  of  the  republic  than  of  the  rights  and 
honor  of  the  South— and,  from  present  indications, 
to  this  complexion  it  must  come  at  last." 

Mr.  Toombs  demanded  that  what  was  recog 
nized  by  law  as  property  in  the  slayeholding 
States  should  be  recognized  in  the  Mexican  terri 
tory.  "This  boon,1'  he  pleaded,  "may  be  worth 
less,  but  its  surrender  involves  our  honor.  We 
can  permit  no  discrimination  against  our  section 


62  ROBERT  100MBS. 

or  our  institutions  in  dividing  out  the  common 
property  of  the  republic.  Their  rights  are  not  to 
be  abandoned,  or  bartered  away  in  presidential 
elections." 

So  Toombs  and  Stephens  were  central  figures 
in   this  national  campaign.      It  was  during  this 
canvass  that  Mr.  Stephens  became  embroiled  with 
Judge  Francis    H.   Cone,  a  prominent  lawyer  of 
Georgia   and    a   near    neighbor.      Mr.    Stephens 
heard  that  Judge  Cone  had  denounced  him  as  a 
traitor  for  moving  to  table  the  Clayton  compro 
mise.       Stephens    had    retorted    sharply   that   if 
Cone  had  said  this  he  would  slap  his  face.     After 
some  correspondence  the  two  men  met  in  Atlanta, 
September  4,  1848.     The  trouble  was  renewed; 
Judge  Cone  denounced  Mr.  Stephens,  who  rapped 
him  over  the   shoulders  with  a  whalebone  cane. 
Mr.  Stephens  was  a  fragile  man,  and  Judge  Cone, 
with  strong  physique,  closed  in  and  forced  him  to 
the  floor.     During  the  scuffle  Mr.  Stephens  was 
cut  in   six  places.     His  life  for  a  while  was  de 
spaired  of.     Upon  his  recovery  he   was  received 
with  wild  enthusiasm  by  the  Whigs,  who  cheered 
his  pluck  and  regarded  his  return  to  the  canvass 
as  an  omen  of  victory. 

Shortly  afterward  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Toombs, 
thanking  her  for  her  interest  and  solicitude  during 
his  illness.  He  managed  to  write  with  his  left 


IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE.  63 

hand,  as  lie  could  not  use  liis  right.  "  I  hope,"  he 
says,  "  I  will  be  able  to  take  the  stump  again  next 
week  for  old  Zach.  I  think  Mr.  Toombs  has  had 
the  weight  of  the  canvass  long  enough,  and  though 
he  has  done  gallant  service,  this  but  inspires  me 
with  the  wish  to  lend  all  aid  in  my  power.  I 
think  we  shall  yet  be  able  to  save  the  State.  My 
faith  is  as  strong  as  Mr.  Preston's  which,  you  know, 
was  enough  to  move  mountains.  I  got  a  letter  the 
other  day  from  Mr.  C-  — ,  who  gives  it  as  his 
opinion  that  Ohio  would  go  for  General  Taylor. 
If  so,  he  will  be  elected.  And  you  know  how  I 
shall  hail  such  a  result." 

During  Mr.  Stephens'  illness  Mr.  Toombs  can 
vassed  many  of  the  counties  in  the  Stephens  dis 
trict.  Both  men  were  reflected  to  Congress,  and 
Zachary  Taylor  received  the  electoral  vote  of 
Georgia  over  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan,  and  was 
elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Democrats,  who  put  out  a  candidate  this 
year  against  Mr.  Toombs,  issued  an  address  which 
was  evidently  not  inspired  by  the  able  and  deserv 
ing  gentleman  who  bore  their  standard,  but  was 
intended  as  a  sharp  rebuke  to  Mr.  Toombs.  It  is 
interesting  as  showing  how  he  was  regarded  by 
his  friends,  the  enemy. 

"  Of  an  age  when  life's  illusions  have  vanished," 
they  said  of  the  Democratic  candidate,  "  he  has  no 


64  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

selfish  aspirations,  no  vaulting  ambition  to  carry 
him  astray:  no  vanity  to  lead  where  it  is  glory 
enough  to  follow."  They  accorded  to  Mr.  Toombs 
"  a  very  showy  cast  of  talent — better  suited  to  the 
displays  of  the  stump  than  the  grave  discussions  of 
the  legislative  hall.  -His  eloquence  has  that  sort 
of  splendor  mixed  with  the  false  and  true  which 
is  calculated  to  dazzle  the  multitude.  He  would 
rather  win  the  applause  of  groundlings  by  some 
silly  tale  than  gain  the  intelligent  by  the  most 
triumphant  course  of  reasoning."  Mr.  Toombs 
carried  every  county  in  the  district  and  was  re 
turned  to  Congress  by  1681  majority. 

When  Mr.  Toombs  returned  to  Washington  he 
had  commanded  national  prominence.  He  had 
not  only  carried  his  State  for  Zachary  Taylor,  but 
his  speech  in  New  York,  during  a  critical  period 
of  the  canvass,  had  turned  the  tide  for  the  Whig 
candidate  in  the  country.  Toombs  and  Stephens 
naturally  stood  very  near  the  administration. 
They  soon  had  reason  to  see,  however,  that  the 
Taylor  Cabinet  was  not  attentive  to  Southern 
counsels. 

During  the  fight  over  the  compromise  measure 
in  Congress  the  Northern  papers  printed  sensa 
tional  accounts  of  a  rupture  between  President 
Taylor  and  Messrs.  Toombs  and  Stephens.  Ac 
cording  to  this  account  the  Georgia  congressmen 


IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE.  65 

called  on  the  President  and  expressed  strong  dis 
approbation  of  his  stand  upon  the  bill  to  organize 
the  Territory  of  New  Mexico.  It  was  said  that 
they  even  threatened  to  side  with  his  opponents 
to  censure  him  upon  his  action  in  the  case  of 
Secretary  Crawford  and  the.Golphin  claim.  The 
President,  the  article  recited,  was  very  much 
troubled  over  this  interview  and  remained  despond 
ent  for  several  clays.  He  took  his  bed  and  never 
rallied,  dying  on  the  9th  of  July,  1850.  Mr. 
Stephens  published  a  card,  promptly  denying  this 
sensation.  He  said  that  neither  he  nor  his  col 
league  Mr.  Toombs  had  visited  the  President  at 
all  during  or  previous  to  his  last  illness,  and  that 
no  such  scene  had  occurred. 

Toombs  and  Stephens,  in  fact,  were  warm  per 
sonal  friends  of  George  W.  Crawford,  who  was 
Secretary  of  War  in  Taylor's  Cabinet.  He  had 
served  with  them  in  the  General  Assembly  of 
Georgia  and  had  twice  been  Governor  of  their 
State.  The  Golphin  claim,  of  which  Governor 
Crawford  had  been  agent,  had  been  collected  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  while  Governor 
Crawford  was  in  the  Cabinet,  but  President  Taylor 
had  decided  that  as  Governor  Crawford  was  at  the 
head  of  an  entirely  different  department  of  the 
government,  he  had  been  guilty  of  no  impropriety. 
After  the  death  of  President  Taylor,  Governor 


66  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

Crawford  returned  to  Augusta  and  was  tendered  a 
public  dinner  by  Ms  fellow-citizens,  irrespective  of 
party.  He  delivered  an  eloquent  and  feeling  ad 
dress.  He  made  an  extensive  tour  abroad,  then 
lived  in  retirement  in  Richmond  County,  enjoying 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  neighbors. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    COMPROMISE    OF    1850. 

No  legislative  body  ever  assembled  with  more 
momentous  measures  before  it  than  the  thirty-first 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  An  immense 
area  of  unsettled  public  domain  had  been  wrested 
from  Mexico.  The  Territories  of  California,  Utah, 
and  New  Mexico,  amounting  to  several  hundred 
thousand  square  miles,  remained  undisposed  of. 
They  comprised  what  Mr.  Calhoun  had  termed 
the  "Forbidden  Fruit,"  and  the  trouble  which 
beclouded  their  annexation  threatened  to  surpass 
the  storms  of  conquest. 

Congress  felt  that  it  wras  absolutely  without 
light  to  guide  it.  It  had  declined  to  extend  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Henry  Clay  had  pronounced  such  division  of 
public  domain  between  the  sections  a  "  Utopian 
dream,"  and  Zachary  Taylor  had  condemned  the 
principle  in  the  only  message  he  ever  delivered  to 
Congress.  What  Mr.  Lincoln  afterward  embodied 
in  his  famous  expression  that  the  Union  could 
never  exist  "  half  slave,  half  free,"  had  been 
actually  anticipated.  The  whole  territorial  ques- 

67 


68  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

tion  came  up  as  a  new  problem.  But  if  the  crisis 
was  now  momentous  the  body  of  statesmen  which 
considered  it  was  a  great  one.  The  men  and  the 
hour  seemed  to  meet  in  that  supreme  moment. 
The  Senate  consisted  of  sixty  members,  and  for 
the  last  time  that  great  trio  of  Clay,  Calhoun,  and 
"Webster  met  upon  its  floor.  Commencing  their 
careers  a  generation  before;  with  eventful  lives 
and  illustrious  performance,  they  lingered  one 
moment  in  this  arena  before  passing  forever 
from  the  scenes  of  their  earthly  efforts.  All 
three  had  given  up  ambition  for  the  Presidency, 
none  of  them  had  commenced  to  break  in  mental 
power,  and  each  one  was  animated  by  patriotism 
to  serve  and  save  his  country.  William  II. 
Seward  had  entered  the  Senate  from  New  York ; 
James  M.  Mason  and  Robert  M.  T.  Hunter  repre 
sented  Virginia;  Wm.  C.  Dawson  had  joined  Mr. 
Berrien  from  Georgia ;  Salmon  P.  Chase  appeared 
from  Ohio ;  Jefferson  Davis  and  Henry  S.  Foote 
illustrated  Mississippi ;  Stephen  A.  Douglas  had 
been  promoted  from  the  House  in  Illinois,  and 
Samuel  Houston  was  there  from  Texas.  The 
House  was  unusually  strong  and  divided  with  the 
Senate  the  stormy  scenes  and  surpassing  struggles 
over  the  compromise  measures  of  1850.  It  was 
the  time  of  breaking  up  of  party  lines,  and  many 
believed  that  the  hour  of  disunion  had  arrived. 
The  Whig  caucus,  which  assembled  to  nomi- 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  69 

nate  a  candidate  for  Speaker  of  the  House,  sus 
tained  a  serious  split.  Robert  Toombs  offered  a 
resolution  that  Congress  should  place  no  restric 
tion  upon  slavery  in  the  Territories.  The  North 
ern  Whigs  scouted  the  idea  and  Toombs  led  the 
Southern  members  out  of  the  meeting.  The 
organization  of  the  House  was  delayed  three 
weeks,  and  finally,  under  a  plurality  resolution, 
the  Democrats  elected  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia 
Speaker  over  Robert  C.  Winthrop  of  Massachu 
setts.  In  the  midst  of  these  stormy  scenes  Mr. 
Toombs  forced  the  fi^htino*.  He  declared  with 

o  o 

impetuous  manner  that  he  believed  the  interests 
of  his  people  were  in  danger  and  he  was  unwill 
ing  to  surrender  the  great  power  of  the  Speaker's 
chair  without  security  for  the  future. 

"  It  seems,"  he  said,  "  that  we  are  to  be  intimid 
ated  by  eulogies  of  the  Union  and  denunciations 
of  those  who  are  not  ready  to  sacrifice  national 
honor,  essential  interests,  and  constitutional  rights 
upon  its  altar.  Sir,  I  have  as  much  attachment  to 
the  Union  of  these  States,  under  the  Constitution  of 
our  fathers,  as  any  freeman  ought  to  have.  I  am 
ready  to  concede  and  sacrifice  for  it  whatever  a 
just  and  honorable  man  ought  to  sacrifice.  I  will 
do  no  more.  I  have  not  heeded  the  expression  of 
those  who  did  not  understand  or  desired  to  mis 
represent  my  conduct  or  opinions  in  relation  to 
these  questions,  which,  in  my  judgment,  so  vitally 


70  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

affect  it.  The  time  has  come  when  I  shall  not 
only  utter  them,  but  make  them  the  basis  of  my 
political  actions  here.  I  do  not  then  hesitate  to 
avow  before  this  House  and  the  country,  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  living  God,  that  if  by  your  legisla 
tion  you  seek  to  drive  us  from  the  Territories  pur 
chased  by  the  common  blood  and  treasure  of  the 
people,  and  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District,  there 
by  attempting  to  fix  a  national  degradation  upon 
half  the  States  of  this  confederacy,  I  am  for  dis 
union,  and  if  my  physical  courage  be  equal  to  the 
maintenance  of  my  convictions  of  right  and  duty 
I  will  devote  all  I  am  and  all  I  have  on  earth  to 
its  consummation. 

"  Give  me  securities  that  the  power  of  organiza 
tion  which  you  seek  will  not  be  used  to  the  injury 
of  my  constituents ;  then  you  can  have  my  co 
operation,  but  not  till  then.  Grant  them,  and  you 
prevent  the  disgraceful  scenes  of  the  last  twenty- 
four  hours  and  restore  tranquillity  to  the  country. 
Refuse  them,  and,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  let 
discord  reign  forever." 

This  speech  fell  like  a  clap  of  thunder.  The 
Wilmot  Proviso  waved  like  a  black  nag  over  the 
heads  of  Southern  men.  No  one  had  spoken 
outright  until  Mr.  Toombs  in  his  bold,  dashing, 
Mirabeau  style  accepted  the  issue  in  the  words 
just  given.  The  House  was  filled  with  storms  of 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  71 

applause  and  jeers,  and,  as  can  be  imagined,  Mr. 
Toombs'  speech  did  not  soothe  the  bitterness  or 
alter  the  determination  of  either  side. 

On  the  22d  of  December  a  conference  was  held 
by  Whigs  and  Democrats,  the  Southern  Whigs  ex- 
cepted,  and  a  resolution  reported  that  the  person 
receiving  the  largest  number  of  votes  for  Speaker, 
on  a  certain  ballot,  should  be  declared  elected,  pro 
vided  this  number  should  be  the  majority  of  a 
quorum,  but  not  a  majority  of  the  House.  Mr. 
Stanton  of  Tennessee  offered  this  "plurality 
resolution." 

Mr.  Toombs  sprang  to  his  feet  and  declared  that 
the  House,  until  it  organized,  could  not  pass  this 
or  any  other  rule. 

Members  stood  up  and  called  Mr.  Toombs  to 
order,  claiming  that  there  was  already  a  question 
pending.  Mr.  Stanton  contended  that  he  had  the 
floor. 

Toombs  called  out :  "  You  may  cry  <  order,'  gen 
tlemen,  until  the  heavens  fall ;  you  cannot  take 
this  place  from  me.  I  have  the  right  to  protest 
against  this  transaction.  It  is  not  with  you  to  say 
whether  this  right  shall  be  yielded  or  when  it  shall 
be  yielded." 

Mr.  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania :  "  I  call  the  gen 
tleman  to  order." 

Mr.  Toombs:  "  I  say  that  by  the  law  of  1789 


V2  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

this  House,  until  a  Speaker  is  elected  and  gentle 
men  have  taken  the  oath  of  office,  has  no  right  to 
adopt  any  rules  whatever." 

(Loud  cries  of  "  order.") 

Mr.  Toombs:  "Gentlemen  may  amuse  them 
selves  crying  l  order.' r 

(Calls  of  "order.") 

Mr.  Toombs :  "  But  I  have  the  right  and  I  in 
tend  to  maintain  the  right  to— 

Mr.  Vandyke  called  upon  the  clerk  to  put  the  pre 
ceding  question.  "Let  us  see,"  he  said,  "whether 
the  gentleman  will  disregard  the  order  of  this 
House." 

Mr.  Toombs :  "  I  have  the  floor,  and  the  clerk 
cannot  put  the  question." 

"  The  House,"  he  said,  "  has  no  right.  Gentle 
men  may  cry  l  order '  and  interrupt  me.  It  is 
mere  brute  force,  attempting  by  the  power  of 
lungs  to  put  me  down." 

Confusion  increased.  Members  called  out  to  en 
courage  Mr.  Toombs,  and  others  to  put  him  down. 
In  the  midst  of  this  babel  he  continued  to  speak, 
his  black  hair  thrown  back,  his  face  flushed,  and 
his  eyes  blazing  like  suns.  His  deep  voice  could 
be  heard  above  the  shouts  like  a  lion's  roar.  Mem 
bers  shouted  to  the  clerk  to  call  the  roll  for  the 
yeas  and  nays. 

Toombs  continued  :  "  If  you  seek  by  violating  the 
common  law  of  parliament,  the  laws  of  the  land, 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  V3 

and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  put  mo 
down  ["order,  order,  call  the  roll "],  you  will  find 
it  a  vain  and  futile  attempt.  ["  Order."]  I  am  sure 
I  am  indebted  to  the  ignorance  of  my  character  on 
the  part  of  those  who  are  thus  disgracing  them 
selves  ["  order,  order  "],  if  they  suppose  any  such 
efforts  as  they  are  now  making  will  succeed  in  driv 
ing  me  from  the  position  which  I  have  assumed. 
I  stand  upon  the  Constitution  of  my  country,  upon 
the  liberty  of  speech  which  you  have  treacher 
ously  violated,  and  upon  the  rights  of  my  constit 
uents,  and  your  fiendish  yells  may  be  well  raised, 
to  drown  an  argument  which  you  tremble  to  hear. 
You  claim  and  have  exercised  the  power  to  pre 
vent  all  debate  upon  any  and  every  subject,  yet 
you  have  not  as  yet  shown  your  right  to  sit  here 
at  all.  I  will  not  presume  that  you  have  any  such 
right  ["order,  order"].  I  will  not  suppose  that  the 
American  people  have  elected  such  agents  to  rep 
resent  them.  I  therefore  demand  that  they  shall 
comply  with  the  Act  of  1789  before  I  shall  be 
bound  to  submit  to  their  authority."  (Loud 
cries  of  "order.") 

The  Act  to  which  Mr.  Toombs  referred  recited 
that  the  oath  must  be  administered  by  the  Speaker 
to  all  the  members  present,  and  to  the  clerk,  pre 
vious  to  entering  on  any  other  business.  This  he 
tried  to  read,  but  cries  of  "  order "  drowned  his 
voice. 


74  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Throwing  aside  his  manual  Mr.  Toombs  walked 
further  out  into  the  aisle  and  assumed  a  yet  more 
defiant  position. 

"  You  refuse,"  he  said,  "  to  hear  either  the  Con 
stitution  or  the  law.  Perhaps  you  do  well  to  listen 
to  neither ;  they  all  speak  a  voice  of  condemnation 
to  your  reckless  proceedings.  But  if  you  will  not 
hear  them  the  country  will.  Every  freeman  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  shore  shall  hear  them, 
and  every  honest  man  shall  consider  them.  You 
cannot  stifle  the  voice  that  shall  reach  their  ears- 
The  electric  spark  shall  proclaim  to  the  freemen  of 
this  republic  that  an  American  Congress,  having 
conceived  the  purpose  to  violate  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws  to  conceal  their  enormities,  have  dis 
graced  the  record  of  their  proceedings  by  placing 
upon  it  a  resolution  that  their  representatives  shall 
not  be  heard  in  their  defense,  and  finding  this  ille 
gal  resolution  inadequate  to  secure  so  vile  an  end, 
have  resorted  to  brutish  yells  and  cries  to  stifle 
the  .words  of  those  they  cannot  intimidate." 

The  clerk  continued  to  call  the  roll,  and  Mr. 
Toombs  with  splendid  audacity  turned  upon  him. 
Pointing  his  finger  at  the  locum  tenens,  he  cried 
with  scorn :  "  I  ask  by  what  authority  that  man 
stands  there  and  calls  these  names.  By  what  au 
thority  does  HE  interfere  with  the  rights  of  a  mem 
ber  of  this  House.  [The  clerk  continued  to  call.] 
He  is  an  intruder,  and  how  dares  he  to  interrupt 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  ?5 

members  in  the  exercise  of  their  constitutional 
rights.  Gentlemen,  has  the  sense  of  shame  de 
parted  with  your  sense  of  right,  that  you  permit  a 
creature,  an  interloper,  in  no  wise  connected  with, 
you,  to  stand  at  that  desk  and  interrupt  your 

order?" 

Mr.  Toombs  continued,  amid  these  boisterous 
scenes,  his  alternate  role  of  argument,  of  appeal, 
of  denunciation.  He  contended  that  a  power  del 
egated  to  the  House  must  be  used  by  a  majority  of 
the  House.  He  concluded  : 

"  I  therefore  demand  of  you  before  the  country, 
in  the  name  of  the  Constitution  and  the  people,  to 
repeal  your  illegal  rule,  reject  the  one  on  your 
table,  and  proceed  to  the  discharge  of  your  high 
duties,  which  the  people  have  confided  to  you,  ac 
cording  to  the  unvarying  precedents  of  your  people 
and  the  law  of  the  land." 

This  performance  was  denounced  by  Northern 
restrictionists  as  menacing  and  insolent.  Mr.  Ste 
phens,  in  his  "War  Between  the  States,"  con 
tended  that  it  should  rather  be  considered  in  the 
lirfit  of  a  wonderful  exhibition  of  physical  as  well 
as  intellectual  prowess-in  this,  that  a  single  man 
should  have  been  able,  thus  successfully,  to  speak 
to  a  tumultuous  crowd  and,  by  declamatory  denun 
ciations  combined  with  solid  argument,  to 
an  infuriated  assembly. 

The  noise  during   the  delivery  of  this  speech 


16  BORERT  TOOMBS. 

gradually  ceased.  The  clerk  stopped  calling  the 
roll,  all  interruptions  were  suspended  and  "  every 
eye/'  says  Mr.  Stephens,  "was  fixed  upon  the 
speaker."  It  was  a  picture  worthy  of  ranking  with 
Laniartine's  great  speech  to  the  revolutionists  in 
France. 

On  the  29th  of  February  Mr.  Toombs  addressed 
the  House  upon  the  general  territorial  question. 
He  said : 

"  We  had  our  institutions  when  you  sought  our 
allegiance.  We  were  content  with  them  then, 
and  we  are  content  with  them  now.  We  have 
not  sought  to  thrust  them  upon  you,  nor  to  inter 
fere  with  yours.  If  you  believe  what  you  say, 
that  yours  are  so  much  the  best  to  promote  the 
happiness  and  good  government  of  society,  why 
do  you  fear  our  equal  competition  with  you  in  the 
Territories  ?  We  only  ask  that  our  common 
government  shall  protect  us  both,  equally,  until 
the  Territories  shall  be  admitted  as  States  into  the 
Union,  then  to  leave  their  citizens  free  to  adopt 
any  domestic  policy  in  reference  to  this  subject 
which  in  their  judgment  may  best  promote  their 
interest  and  their  happiness.  The  demand  is  just. 
Grant  it,  and  you  place  your  prosperity  and  ours 
upon  a  solid  foundation ;  you  perpetuate  the 
Union  so  necessary  to  your  prosperity ;  you  solve 
the  problem  of  republican  government.  If  it  be 
demonstrated  that  the  Constitution  is  powerless 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  V7 

for  our  protection,  it  will  then  be  not  only  the 
right  but  the  duty  of  the  slaveholding  States  to 
resume  the  powers  which  they  have  conferred 
upon  this  government  and  to  seek  new  safeguards 
for  their  future  protection.  .  .  .  We  took  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  Union  together.  We  will  have 
both  or  we  will  have  neither.  This  cry  of  Union 
is  the  masked  battery  behind  which  the  rights  of 
the  South  are  to  be  assaulted.  Let  the  South 
mark  the  man  who  is  for  the  Union  at  every 
hazard  and  to  the  last  extremity ;  when  the  day 
of  her  peril  comes  he  will  be  the  imitator  of  that 
character,  the  base  Judas,  who  for  thirty  pieces 
of  silver  threw  away  a  pearl  richer  than  all  his 
tribe." 

On  the  15th  of  June,  1850,  while  the  com 
promise  measures  were  shifting  from  House  to 
House,  the  question  was  put  to  some  of  the  advo 
cates  of  the  admission  of  California,  whether  they 
would  under  any  circumstances  admit  a  slave 
State  into  the  Union.  They  declined  to  say. 

Mr.  Toombs  arose  and  declared  that  the  South 
did  not  deny  the  right  of  a  people  framing  a  State 
constitution  to  admit  or  exclude  slavery.  The 
South  had  uniformly  maintained  this  right. 

"The  evidence  is  complete,"  he  said.  ;'The 
North  repudiated  this  principle." 

"  I  intend  to  drag  off  the  mask  before  the  con 
summation  of  the  act.  We  do  not  oppose  Call- 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 


fornia  on  account  of  the  antislavery  clause  in  her 
constitution.     It  was  her  right,  and  I  am  not  even 
prepared  to  say  she  acted  unwisely  in  its  exer 
cise  —  that  is  her  business  :  but  I  stand  upon  the 
great  principle  that  the  South  has  the  right  to  an 
equal  participation  in  the  Territories  of  the  United 
States.     I  claim  the  right  for  her  to  enter  them 
with  all  her  property  and   security  to  enjoy  it. 
She  will  divide  with  you  if  you  wish  it  :  but  the 
right  to  enter  all,  or  divide,  I  will  never  surrender. 
In  my  judgment  this  right,  involving,  as  it  does, 
political  equality,  is  worth  a  dozen  such  Unions 
as  we  have,  even  if  each  were  a  thousand  times 
more  valuable  than  this.     I  speak  not  for  others, 
but  for  myself.     Deprive   us   of   this  right,  and 
appropriate  this  common  property  to  yourselves  ; 
it  is  then  your  government,  not  mine.     Then  I  am 
its    enemy,  and  I  will  then,  if  I   can,  bring  my 
children  and  my  constituents  to  the  altar  of  liberty, 
and  like  Hamilcar,  I  will  swear  them  to  eternal 
hostility  to  your  foul  domination.     Give  us  our 
just  rights,  and  we  are  ready,  as  ever  heretofore,  to 
stand  by  the  Union,  every  part  of  it,  and  its  every 
interest.     Eef  use  it,  and,  for  one,  I  will  strike  for 
independence." 

Mr.  Stephens  declared  that  this  speech  produced 
the  greatest  sensation  he  had  ever  seen  in  the 
House.  "  It  created  a  perfect  commotion." 

These  heated  arguments  of  Mr.  Toombs  were 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  V9 

delivered  under  the  menace  of  the  Wilmot  Pro 
viso,  or  slavery  restriction.  When  this  principle 
was  abandoned  and  the  compromise  measures 
passed,  Mr.  Toombs  uttered,  as  we  shall  see,  far 
different  sentiments. 

In  the  Senate  Mr.  Clay,  the   Great  Pacificator, 
had    introduced   his     compromise  resolutions   to 
admit   California  under  the   government   already 
formed, prohibiting  slavery;  to  organize  territorial 
governments  for  Utah  and  New  Mexico  without 
slavery  restrictions;  to  pass  a  fugitive-slave  law, 
and  to  abolish  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.      On    the    7th    of   March,    1850,   Mr. 
Webster   delivered   his   great   Union   speech,  in 
which  for  the  first  time  he  took  strong  grounds 
against  congressional  restriction  in  the  Territories. 
It  created  a  profound  sensation.     It  was  on  the 
4th  of  March  that  Senator  Mason  read  for  Mr. 
Calhoun  the  last  speech  that  the  latter  ever  pre 
pared.     It  was  a  memorable  moment  when  the 
great  Carolinian,  with  the  stamp  of  death  already 
upon  him,  reiterated  his  love  for  the  Union  under 
the  Constitution,  but  declared,  with  the  prescience 
of  a  seer,  that  the  only   danger  threatening  the 
government  arose  from  its  centralizing  tendency. 
It  was  "the  sunset  of  life  which  gave  him  mys1 

cal  lore." 

Debate  continued  through  the  spring  and  sum 
mer  with  increasing  bitterness.     On  the  31st  at 


80  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

July  Mr.  Clay's  "Omnibus  Bill,"  as  it  was 
called,  "  went  to  pieces,"  but  the  Senate  took  up 
the  separate  propositions,  passed  them,  and  trans 
mitted  them  to  the  House. 

Here  the  great  sectional  contest  was  renewed. 
Mr.  Toombs  offered  an  amendment  that  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  such 
statutes  thereof  as  may  not  be  locally  inapplica 
ble,  and  the  common  law,  as  it  existed  in  the 
British  colonies  of  America  until  July  4,  1776, 
shall  be  the  exclusive  laws  of  said  Territory  upon 
the  subject  of  African  slavery,  until  altered  by 
the  proper  authority.  This  was  rejected  by  the 
House.  On  September  6  the  Texas  and  New 
Mexico  bill,  with  the  Boyd  amendment,  passed 
by  a  vote  of  108  to  97 — and  the  anti-restriction- 
ists,  as  Mr.  Stephens  said,  won  the  day  at  last. 
This  was  the  great  compromise  of  that  year,  and 
the  point  established  was  that,  since  the  principle 
of  division  of  territory  between  the  North  and 
South  had  been  abandoned,  the  principle  of  con 
gressional  restriction  should  also  be  abandoned, 
and  that  all  new  States,  whether  north  or  south 
of  36°  30',  should  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
"  either  with  or  without  slavery  as  their  con 
stitution  might  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their 
admission." 

During  this  memorable  contest  Mr.  Toombs 
was  in  active  consultation  with  Northern  states- 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850.  81 


men,  trying   to   effect  the   compromise.     He   in 
sisted   that    there    should   be    no    congressional 
exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  public  domain,  but 
that   in   organizing   territorial    governments    the 
people  should  be  allowed  to  authorize  or  restrict, 
as   they   pleased.      Until   these   principles   were 
settled,  however,  he  would  fight  the  admission  of 
California.      Into   this   conference   Mr.  Stephens 
and  Howell  Cobb  were  admitted,  and  at  a  meet 
ing  at  the  house  of  the  latter  an  agreement  was 
reached   between   the   three   Georgians  and   the 
representatives  from  Kentucky,  Ohio,  and  Illinois, 
that  California  should   be    admitted;     that   the 
Territories  should  be   organized  without  restric 
tion,  and  that  their  joint  efforts  should  be  used  to 
bring  this  about  as  well  as  to  defeat  any  attempt 
to   abolish  slavery   in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Here  was  the  essence  of   the  compromise,  built 
upon   the   great   measures   of   Henry   Clay,  and 
finally  ripening  into  the  legislation  of  that  session. 
Here  was  the  agreement  of  that  compact  which 
formed  the  great  "  Constitutional  Union  Party"  in 
Georgia,  and  which  erected  a  bulwark  against  dis 
union,   not   only   in  Georgia,  but  on   the   whole 
Southern   seaboard.      The    disunion     movement 
failed   in    1850.     "At   the    head   of   the   States 
which  had  the  merit  of  stopping  it,'7  said  Thomas 
H.    Benton,  "was  Georgia,  the   greatest   of  the 
South  Atlantic  States."     And  that  Georgia  stood 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

steadfast  in  her  place,  and  declined  every  over 
ture  for  secession,  was  because  of  the  united 
prestige  and  splendid  abilities  of  Howell  Cobb, 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  and  Kobert  Toombs. 

During  this  stormy  session  Mr.  Toombs7  heart 
continually  yearned  for  home.  He  was  a  model 
husband  and  a  remarkable  domestic  character. 
The  fiery  scenes  of  the  forum  did  not  ween  him 
from  his  family.  On  the  29th  of  August,  1850, 
he  wrote  to  his  wife  : 

We  have  before  us  the  whole  of  the  territorial  questions, 
and  shall  probably  pass  or  reject  them  in  a  few  days  or  at 
most  in  a  week.  I  am  greatly  in  hopes  that  we  will  not 
pass  over  them  without  final  action  of  some  sort,  and  if  we 
can  get  rid  of  them  I  shall  have  nothing  to  prevent  my 
coming  home  at  the  time  appointed.  I  begin  to  be  more 
anxious  to  see  you  than  to  save  the  republic.  Such  is  a 
sweet  woman's  fascination  for  men's  hearts.  The  old 
Roman  Antony  threw  away  an  empire  rather  than  aban 
don  his  lovely  Cleopatra,  and  the  world  has  called  him  a 
fool  for  it.  I  begin  to  think  that  he  was  the  wiser  man, 
and  that  the  world  was  well  lost  for  love. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    GEORGIA    PLATFOEM. 

WHEN  Mr.  Toombs  came  home  in  the  fall  of 
1850  he  found  the  State  in  upheaval.  Disunion 
sentiment  was  rife.  He  was  confronted  by  garbled 
extracts  of  his  speeches  in  Congress,  and  made  to 
pose  as  the  champion  of  immediate  secession.  He 
had  aided  in  perfecting  the  great  compromise  and 
was  resolved  that  Georgia  should  take  her  stand 
firmly  and  unequivocally  for  the  Union  and  the 
Constitution.  Governor  Towns  had  issued  a  call 
for  a  State  convention  ;  Mr.  Toombs  took  prompt 
issue  with  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  call. 
He  declared  that  the  legislature  had  endangered 
the  honor  of  the  State  and  that  the  Governor  had 
put  the  people  in  a  defile.  "  We  must  either  re 
pudiate  this  policy,  or  arm,"  he  said.  "  I  favor 
the  former  measure."  . 

Mr.  Toombs  issued  a  ringing  address  to  the 
people.  It  bore  date  of  October  9,  1850.  He 
proclaimed  that  "  the  first  act  of  legislative  hos 
tility  was  the  first  act  of  Southern  resistance." 
He  urged  the  South  to  stand  by  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws  in  good  faith,  until  wrong  was  con- 

83 


84  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

suinmated  or  the  act  of  exclusion  placed  upon  the 
statute  books. 

Mr.  Toombs  said  that  the  South  had  not  se 
cured  its  full  rights.  "But  the  fugitive-slave 
law  which  I  demanded  was  granted.  The  aboli 
tion  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
proscription  in  the  Territories  were  defeated, 
crushed,  and  abandoned.  We  have  firmly  estab 
lished  great  and  important  principles.  The  South 
has  compromised  no  right,  surrendered  no  prin 
ciple,  and  lost  not  an  inch  of  ground  in  this  great 
contest.  I  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  these  acts, 
but  gave  them  my  ready  support." 

Addressing  himself  to  the  disunionists  he  said  : 
"  They  have  abandoned  their  errors,  but  not  their 
object.  Being  bent  upon  the  ruin  of  the  republic 
they  use  truth  or  error  for  its  accomplishment,  as 
best  suits  the  exigencies  of  the  hour.  If  these  peo 
ple  are  honest  in  their  convictions,  they  may  find 
abundant  consolation  in  the  fact  that  the  principle 
is  neither  conceded,  compromised,  nor  endangered 
by  these  bills.  It  is  strengthened,  not  weakened 
by  them,  and  will  survive  their  present  zeal  and 
future  apostasy." 

Mr.  Toombs  called  on  all  men  of  integrity, 
intellect,  and  courage  to  come  into  the  service 
of  the  State  and  prove  their  devotion  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union.  "  With  no  memory 
of  past  differences/'  he  said;  "  careless  of  the  fu- 


THE  GEORGIA  PLATFORM.  85 

ture,  I  am  ready  to  unite  with  any  portion  or  all 
my  countrymen  in  defense  of  the  integrity  of  the 
republic." 

Mr.  Toombs  took  the  stump,  and  his  words  rang 
out  like  an  alarm  bell.  Men  speak  to-day  of  his 
activity  and  earnestness  in  that  great  campaign, 
as  with  "  rapid  and  prompt  perception,  clear,  close 
reasoning,  cutting  eloquence,  and  unsparing  hand 
he  rasped  the  follies  of  disunion  and  secession." 
A  prominent  journal  of  that  day,  speaking  of  his 
speech  in  Burke  County,  Ga.,  declared  that  "his 
manly  eloquence  has  shaken  and  shivered  to  the 
base  the  pedestal  upon  which  the  monument  of 
American  ruin  was  to  be  erected." 

In  November  of  that  year  a  convention  of  dele 
gates  from  Southern  States  was  held  at  Nashville. 
Ex-Governor  Charles  J.  McDonald  represented 
Georgia.  That  meeting  protested  against  the  ad 
mission  of  California  with  slavery  restriction; 
charged  that  the  policy  of  Congress  had  beeri^  to 
exclude  the  Southern  States  from  the  Territories, 
and  plainly  asserted  that  the  powers  of  the  sov 
ereign  States  could  be  resumed  by  the  States  sep 
arately.  On  November  3  the  election  of  delegates 
to  the  Georgia  convention  was  held.  Toombs  had 
already  turned  the  tide.  A  great  majority  of 
Union  men  were  chosen.  Whigs  and  Democrats 
united  to  save  the  State.  Toombs  stood  convicted 
before  many  of  his  old  followers  of  "unsoundness 


66  tiOBERT  TOOMBS. 

on  the  slavery  question  "  —but  he  was  performing 
his  greatest  public  work. 

Among  the  delegates  elected  by  the  people  to 
the  Georgia  convention,  which  met  at  Milledge- 
ville,  December  10,  1850,  were  Toombs  and  Ste 
phens  and  many  of  the  best  men  in  the  State. 

The  work  of  the  distinguished  body  was  mem 
orable.  They  adopted  the  celebrated  "Georgia 
Platform,"  whose  utterances  were  talismanic. 
Charles  J.  Jenkins  reported  the  resolutions.  They 
recited,  first,  that  Georgia  held  the  American 
Union  secondary  in  importance  to  the  rights  and 
principles  it  was  bound  to  perpetuate.  That  as 
the  thirteen  original  colonies  found  union  impossi 
ble  without  compromise,  the  thirty-one  of  this  day 
will  yield  somewhat  in  the  conflict  of  opinion  and 
policy,  to  preserve  the  Union.  That  Georgia  had 
maturely  considered  the  action  of  Congress  (em 
bracing  the  compromise  measures)  and — while  she 
does  not  wholly  approve  it — will  abide  by  it  as  a 
permanent  adjustment  of  this  sectional  controversy. 
That  the  State  would  in  future  resist,  even  to  the 
disruption  of  the  Union,  any  act  prohibiting  slav 
ery  in  the  Territories,  or  a  refusal  to  admit  a  slave 
State.  The  fifth  plank  declared  for  a  faithful  ex 
ecution  of  the  Fugitive-slave  bill. 

Upon  this  platform  the  Union  men  selected 
Howell  Cobb  as  their  candidate  for  Governor. 
The  Southern  Rights  men  selected  Charles  J.  Me- 


THE  GEORGIA  PLATFORM.  87 

Donald.  This  party  claimed  that  the  South  was 
degraded  by  the  compromise  measures.  Their 
platform  was  based  upon  the  Virginia  and  Ken 
tucky  resolution.  It  asserted  the  right  of  secession 
and  maintained  the  constitutionality  and  necessity 
of  intervention  by  Congress  in  favor  of  admitting 
slavery  into  the  Territories.  The  distinct  doctrine 
of  the  compromise  measures  wras  non-intervention. 

Howell  Cobb  was  a  born  leader  of  men.  Per 
sonally  he  was  the  most  popular  man  in  the  State. 
Entering  public  life  at  an  early  age  he  had  been 
a  congressman  at  twenty-eight.  He  had  been  leader 
of  the  Southern  party,  and  was  chosen  Speaker,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  1849,  when  only  thirty-four  years 
old.  He  had  been  known  as  a  strong  friend  of 
the  Union,  and  some  of  the  extreme  States'  Rights 
men  called  him  a  "  consolidation}  st." 

In  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination  for  Gov 
ernor,  he  alluded  to  the  long-cherished  doctrine  of 
non-intervention.  The  Wilmot  Proviso  had  been 
withdrawn  and  the  Union  saved.  The  people  had 
been  awarded  the  right  to  determine  for  themselves 
in  the  Territories  whether  or  not  slavery  was  to  be 
a  part  of  their  social  system. 

No  man  was  so  tireless  or  conspicuous  in  this 
campaign  as  Mr.  Toombs.  Although  expressing 
a  desire  that  someone  else  should  go  to  Congress 
from  his  district,  he  accepted  a  renomination  to 
assert  his  principles.  He  did  not,  however,  con- 


$8  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

fine  his  work  to  his  district.  He  traveled  from 
one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other.  He  recognized 
that  party  organization  in  Georgia  had  been  over 
thrown  and  party  lines  shattered  in  every  State  in 
the  Union.  He  boldly  declared  that  a  continu 
ance  of  the  Union  was  not  incompatible  with  the 
rights  of  every  State.  He  asserted  that  the  ani 
mating  spirit  of  his  opponents,  the  States'  Eights 
party,  was  hostility  to  the  Union.  Some  of  the 
members  still  submitted  to  the  humiliation  of  rais 
ing  the  cry  of  "  the  Union,"  he  said,  but  it  was  a 
"  masked  battery,"  from  which  the  very  Union  was 
to  be  assailed.  Mr.  Toombs  announced  on  the 
stump  that  "  the  good  sense,  the  firmness,  the  pat 
riotism  of  the  people,  would  shield  the  Union  from 
assault  of  our  own  people.  They  will  maintain 
it  as  long  as  it  deserves  to  be  maintained." 

Mr.  Toombs  admitted'  that  the  antislavery  sen 
timent  of  the  North  had  become  more  violent  from 
its  defeat  on  the  compromise  measures. 

"  What  did  this  party  demand,  and  what  did  it 
get  ? "  he  asked  on  the  stump.  "  It  was  driven 
from  every  position  it  assumed.  It  demanded  the 
express  prohibition  of  slavery,  the  Wilmot  Proviso, 
in  the  Territories.  It  lost  it.  It  demanded  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  the  slave  trade  between  the  States.  It  lost 
both.  It  demanded  the  affirmance  of  the  oft-re 
peated  declaration  that  there  should  be  no  more 


THE  GEORGIA  PLATFORM.  89 

slave  States  admitted  into  the  Union.     Congress 
enacted   that   States   hereafter   coming  into    the 
Union  should  be  admitted  with  or  without  slav 
ery,  as  such  States   might   determine   for  them 
selves.     It  demanded  a  trial  by  jury  for  fugitives 
at  the  place  of  arrest.     It  lost  this  also. 
knowledged  exponent  is  the  Free-Soil  party.    The 
Whig  party  has  succumbed  to  it.    It  is  thoroughly 
denationalized  and  desectionalized,  and  will  never 
make  another  national  contest.  We  are  indebted  to 
the  defeat  of  the  policy  of  these  men  for  the  exist 
ence  of  the  government  to-day.     The  Democratic 
party  of  the  North,  though  prostrated,  is  not  yet  de 
stroyed.    Our  true  policy  is  to  compel  both  parties 
to  puro-e  themselves  of  this  dangerous  element, 
either  will,  to  sustain  it.   If  neither  will,  then  we  ex 
pect  to  preserve  the  Union.     We  must  overthrow 
both  parties  and  rally  the  sound  men  to  a  common 
standard.     This  is  the  only  policy  which  can  pre- 
serve  both  our  rights  and  the  Union." 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1851,Mr.Toombs  spoke 
in  Elberton.     He  was  in  the  full  tide  of  his  man- 
hood,  an  orator  without  equal ;  a  statesman  wit 
out  fear  or  reproach.     Personally,  he  was  a  splen 
did  picture,  full  of  health  and  vitality, 
been  prosperous  in  his  affairs.     He  was  prominent 
in  public  life  and  overbore  all  opposition      Hi* 
powers  were  in  their  prime.     In  his  speech  t 
constituents  he  mentioned  the  fact  that  his  oppo- 


90  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

rients  had  criticised  the  manner  in  which  he  trav 
eled  (alluding  to  his  fine  horses  and  servants).  He 
wanted  the  people  to  know  that  the  money  was 
his,  and  that  he  made  $5000  a  year  in  Elbert 
alone.  "  Who  would  say  that  he  had  not  earned 
his  money?  He  had  a  right  to  spend  it  as  he 
chose.  Perish  such  demagogy — such  senseless 
stuff."  The  people  cheered  him  to  the  echo 
for  his  candor  and  audacity. 

"  What  presumption,"  he  said,  "  for  the  States' 
Rights  men  to  nominate  McDonald  for  Governor 
—a  man  who  supported  Jackson's  Force  bill — a 
man  who  had  grown  gray  in  federalism?  He 
was  the  man  brought  to  teach  the  people  of 
Elbert  States'  Eights.  It  would  be  a  curious 
subject  of  inquiry  to  find  out  when  this  neo 
phyte  had  changed,  and  by  what  process  the 
change  had  been  wrought." 

Toombs  was  alluded  to  by  the  correspondents 

as  "  Richard,  the  Lion-hearted,"  with  strong  arm 

and  ponderous  battle-ax,  as  he  went  about  winning 

victories.     Stephens,  no  less  effective  and  influen- 

j  tial,  seemed   to  be  the  great  Saladin  with  well- 

!  tempered  Damascus  blade — so  skillful  as  to  sever 

the  finest  down.     The  people  were  in  continued 

uproar  as  Toombs  moved  from  place  to  place. 

In  Jefferson  County,  Mr.  Toombs  denied  that 
the  South  had  yielded  any  demand  she  ever  made, 
or  had  sacrificed  any  principle  she  ever  held.  He 


'THE  GEORGIA  PLATFORM. 

cried  that  "  opposition  to  Toombs  and  Stephens 
seemed  to  be  the  principle  of  political  faith  on  the 
other  side."  Toombs  declared  that  Stephens 
"carried  more  brains  and  more  soul  for  the  least 
flesh  of  any  man  God  Almighty  ever  made  " 

Mr    Toombs  repeated  that  if  the  slaveholders 
had  lost  the  right  to  carry  slavery  into  California 
they  had  lost  it  upon  sound  principle, 
of  each  State  to  prescribe  its  own  institutions  is  a 
rHit  above  slavery.     Slavery  is  only  an  incident 
to°this  right.     This  principle  lies  at  the  founda 
tion  of  all  good  government.     He  had  always  hel 
it  and  would  always  hold  it : 

Till  wrapped  in  flames  the  realms  of  ether  glow 
And  Heaven's  last  thunder  shakes  the  world  below. 

He  deeply  sympathized  with  those  Southern 
Rights  men  who  denounced  the  Union  they  pro- 

^Sakinrofthe  sudden  change  of  son.  of  his 
opponttsln  political  principles,  Toombs  declared 
they  "would  profess  any  opinion  to  gam  votes. 
K  bad  been  the  belief  of  Crawford  that  vf  a  man 
chan-ed  politics  after  thirty  he  was  a  rascal. 


92  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

go  to  hear  him)  looked  as  if  they  would  make 
their  escape  from  his  withering  and  scathing  re 
buke."  Toombs  derided  the  States'  Eights  men 
for  declaring  that  they  were  friends  of  the  Union 
under  which  they  declared  they  were  "  degraded 
and  oppressed."  The  greatest  stumbling-block 
to  Toombs'  triumphant  tour  was  to  be  presented 
with  bits  of  his  own  speeches  delivered  during  the 
excitement  of  the  last  Congress. 

He  had  said  in  one  of  these  impassioned  out 
bursts  :     "  He  who  counts  the  danger  of  defending 
•  ^ 

his  own  home  is  already  degraded.     The  people 

who  count  the  cost  of  maintaining  their  political 
rights  are  ready  for  slavery." 

In  Lexington  he  was  accused  of  having  said 
that  if  the  people  understood  this  slavery  question 
as  well  as  he  did  "  they  would  not  remain  in  the 
Union  five  minutes."  This  provoked  a  bitter 
controversy.  Mr.  Toombs  denied  the  remark,  and 
declared  he  was  willing  to  respond  personally  and 
publicly  to  the  author. 

As  the  campaign  became  more  heated,  Toombs, 
Stephens,  and  Cpbb  redoubled  their  efforts  and 
drew  their  lines  more  closely.  This  combination 
was  invincible.  It  was  evident  that  they  would 
carry  the  State,  but  some  of  the  prominent  men 
in  Georgia  were  ruled  out  under  what  was 
thought  to  be  the  bitter  spirit  of  the  canvass. 
One  of  these  was  Charles  J.  Jenkins,  and  the 


THE  GEORGIA  PLATFORM.  93 

other,  John  McPherson  Berrien.     The 'former 'had 
drawn  the  celebrated   Georgia  Platform,  and  was 
devoted  to  the  Union.     The  latter  was  United 
States  Senator  from  Georgia,  and,  as  his  successor 
was  to  be  chosen  by  the  legislature  soon  to  be 
elected,  there  was  much  curiosity  to  find  out  his 
real   position   in   this  canvass.     Mr.  Jenkins  de 
clared  that  he  considered  Mr.  Berrien  "  as  good  a 
Union  man  and  as  safe  a  representative  of  the 
party  as  any  within  its  ranks."     Berrien  acquiesced 
in  but  did  not  eulogize  the  compromise  measures. 
He  did  not  oppose  or  favor  the  State  convention 
of  1850.     When  he  submitted  to  the  Senate  the 
Georgia  Platform,  he  declared  that   he   did   not 
surrender  the   privileges    of   a   free  choice.     He 
supported  McDonald  for  Governor  against  Cobb, 
and  it  was  soon  evident  that  he  was  not  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  winning  party. 

The  Constitutional  Union  men  won  a  signal 
victory.  Howell  Cobb  was  elected  Governor  by 
a  large  majority  over  Charles  J.  McDonald,  who 
had  been  twice  Governor  and  who  was  one  of  the 
strongest  men  in  Georgia.  Kobert  Toombs  was 
reflected  to  Congress  over  Eobert  McMillen  of 
Elbert,  and  Mr.  Stephens  defeated  D.  W.  Lewis 

of  Hancock. 

The  legislature  convened  in  November,  1851. 
It  was  largely  made  up  of  Union  men.  Judge 
Berrien  was  not  a  candidate  for  reelection  to  the 


94  ROBERT  TOOMB8. 

United  States  Senate.  He  wrote  a  letter  vji 
which  lie  reviewed  his  course  during  the  cam 
paign.  He  said  : 

"  I  asserted  in  terms  which  even  cavilers  could  not 
misunderstand  nor  any  honest  man  doubt,  my  devotion  to 
the  Union,  my  unfaltering  determination  to  maintain  by 
all  constitutional  means,  and  with  undiminished  zeal,  the 
equal  rights  of  the  South,  and  my  acquiescence  in  the  com 
promise  measures.  Satisfied  that  such  declarations,  in  the 
excited  state  of  feeling,  would  not  meet  the  exactions  of 
either  party  in  a  contest  peculiarly  bitter,  and  unable  to 
sacrifice  for  the  purpose  of  victory  the  dictates  of  con 
science  or  the  convictions  of  judgment,  I  expressed  a  will 


On  the  10th  of  November  Kobert  Toombs  was 
elected  United  States  Senator.  In  the  caucus  he 
secured  73  votes,  and  in  the  open  Assembly  next 
day  he  received  120  votes,  scattering,  50. 

Never  was  reward  more  swift  or  signal  to  the 
master-mind  of  a  campaign.  If  he  had  been  the 
leader  of  the  extreme  Southern  wing  in  Congress, 
he  had  shown  his  -willingness  to  accept  a  compro 
mise  and  go  before  the  people  in  defense  of  the 
Union. 

He  was  charged  with  having  aroused  the  Se 
cession  storm.  If  he  had  unwittingly  done  so  in 
Congress  in  order  to  carry  his  point,  he  proved 
himself  powerful  in  stopping  it  at  home.  What 
some  of  his  critics  had  said  of  him  was  true; 


TIIJH  GEORGIA  PLATFORM.  95 

"The  rashest  of  talkers,  lie  was  the  safest  of 
counselors."  Certain  it  is  that  at  a  moment  of 
national  peril  lie  repelled  the  charge  of  being  an 
"irreconcilable,"  and  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
stanchest  supporters  of  the  Union. 

In  Milledgeville,  during  the  turmoil  attending 
the  election  of  United  States  Senator  in  Novem 
ber,  1851  Mr.  Toombs  wrote  to  his  wife  as  fol 
lows  : 

Since  I  wrote  you  last  I  have  been  in  the  midst  of  an 
exciting  political  contest  with  constantly  varying  aspects. 
The  friends  of  Judge  Berrien  are  moving  every  possible 
spring  to  compass  my  defeat,  but  as  yet  I  have  constantly 
held  the  advantage  over  them.     They  started  Mr.  Jenkins 
and  kept  him  up,  under  considerable  excitement,  until  he 
came  to  town  yesterday  and  instantly  withdrew  his  name. 
To-day  they  have    started   a  new    batch    of   candidates 
Judo-e  Hill,  Hiues  Holt,  Warren,  Cliarlton,  and  others,  all 
of  Avhom  they  seek  to  combine.     I  think  I  can  beat  the 
whole  combination,  though  it  is  too  close  to  be  comfortable. 
It  is  impossible  to  give  an  idea  of  every  varying  scene  but 
as  I  have  staked  my  political  fortunes  on  success,  if 
defeated  in  this  conflict  my  political  race  is  over,  and  pei 
haps  I  feel  too  little  interest  in  the  result  for  success. 

Dawson  is  at  home  sick  ;    Stephens  is  not  here ;    so 
am  standing  very  much  on  my  own  hand,  breasting  the  con 
fliot  alone/  So  I  shall   have   the  consolation  of  knowing 
that,  if  I  succeed,  the  victory  will  be  all  my  own.     T] 
contest   will   be    decided   by   Monday   next,  and   perhaps 

sooner As  soon  as  it  is  over  I  shall  leave  here  and 

shall  be  at  home  at  furthest  to-day  week      If  I  were  not 
complicated  in  this  business,  nothing  would  induce  me 


96  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

go  into  it.  There  are  so  many  unpleasant  things  connected 
with  it,  which  will  at  least  serve  as  lessons  for  the  future, 
whatever  may  be  the  result.  You  can  see  from  this  letter 
how  deeply  I  am  immersed  in  this  contest,  yet  I  am  getting 
so  impatient  to  come  home  that  even  defeat  would  be  bet 
ter  than  this  eternal  annoyance. 

TOOMBS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    CAMPAIGN    OF    1852. 

IN  this  first  struggle  between  Secession  and  the 
Union  Georgia  had  taken  the  lead,  but  Georgia 
had  not  been  the  only  State  involved.  The  fight 
was  waged  just  as  fiercely  in  Mississippi,  when 
Henry  S.  Foote,  the  Union  candidate,  was  elected 
Governor  over  Jefferson  Davis.  But  the  Georgia 
Platform  was  the  corner-stone  of  the  Southern 
victory.  Her  action  gave  peace  and  quiet  to  the 
whole  Union,  and  the  success  of  the  triumvirate 
that  year  offered  assurance  of  strength  and  security 
to  the  country.  The  national  parties  were  quick 
to  align  themselves  on  this  platform.  The  Demo 
cratic  convention,  which  assembled  in  Baltimore 
June  1,  declared  that  u  the  party  would  abide  by 
and  adhere  to  a  faithful  execution  of  the  Acts 
known  as  the  Compromise  Measures,  settled  by  the 
last  Congress."  The  Whig  convention,  which  met 
also  at  Baltimore,  June  16,  proclaimed  that  "the 
series  of  Acts  of  the  thirty -first  Congress,  known  as 
the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  the  Act  known 
as  the  Fugitive-slave  law  included,  are  received  and 
acquiesced  in  by  the  Whig  party  of  the  United 
States  as  a  settlement  in  principle  and  substance 

97 


98  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

of  the  dangerous  and  exciting  questions  which 
they  embrace." 

"The  truth  is,"  said  Mr.  Stephens  in  his  «  War 
Between  the  States,"  "  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  people,  North  as  well  as  South,  was  in 
favor  of  maintaining  these  principles." 

Under  these  conditions  the  presidential  cam 
paign  of  1852  was  opened.  The  Southern  Whigs 
did  not,  as  a  body,  accept  the  Baltimore  nominee, 
General  Winfield  Scott.  They  claimed  that  he 
had  refused  to  express  any  direct  approval  of  the 
platform  relating  to  the  compromise.  Mr.  Toombs 
demanded  that  his  candidate  plant  himself  un 
equivocally  upon  this  platform.  lie  noticed  that 
the  opponents  of  the  Fugitive-slave  law  were 
strong  for  Scott.  Feeling  in  the  South  was  still 
running  high.  Some  extremists  held  that  no 
Northern  man  was  fit  to  be  trusted.  Mr.  Toombs 
declared  that  there  were  good  and  true  men  at  the 
North  and  that  he  would  "  hold  party  associations 
with  no  others." 

In  a  speech  to  his  own  townspeople  in  Wash 
ington,  Ga.,  during  this  presidential  campaign, 
Mr.  Toombs  declared  that  he  had  not  changed  one 
iota,  but  was  ready  now  to  support  the  men  who 
would  plant  themselves  on  the  broad  principles  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  country.  He  said  Gen 
eral  Scott  had  no  claims  whatever  upon  the 
people.  He  spoke  of  him  as  a  great  general,  and 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1852.  99 

alluded  in  glowing  terms  to  his  achievements  in 
arms  against  the  Mexicans  and  Indians.  But 

O 

General  Scott,  he  believed,  was  a  Free-Soil  can 
didate.  He  would  be  in  favor  of  annexing  Can 
ada,  but  no  more  slave  territory.  Mr.  Toombs 
alluded  to  the  Democratic  candidate  for  President, 
General  Franklin  Pierce,  as  a  very  consistent 
man  in  all  his  senatorial  career,  and  believed  he 
was  the  safest  man  on  the  slavery  question  north 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  He  preferred  Pierce 
to  Scott,  but  said  he  would  not  vote  for  either. 
The  contest  was  "  between  a  big  general  and  a 
little  general." 

Mr.  Toombs  launched  into  a  magnificent  tribute 
to  Daniel  Webster  as  a  statesman  and  friend  of 
the  Constitution.  It  was  Webster  who  had  stayed 
the  flood  of  abolition  and  killed  the  Wilmot  Pro 
viso  ;  who  had  dared,  in  the  face  of  the  North, 
and  in  defiance  of  his  constituents,  to  boldly  de 
fend  the  rights  of  the  South  and  exclaim,  "O 
God,  I  will  be  just !  " 

This  allusion  of  Mr.  Toombs  rang  throughout 
the  State.  Its  significance  lay  in  the  fact  that  the 
Whigs  of  Georgia,  in  convention  assembled,  had 
nominated  Daniel  Webster  for  President  and 
Charles  J.  Jenkins  for  vice-president  of  the  United 
States.  Without  chance  of  national  success,  this 
ticket  was  received  with  strong  expression  of  in 
dorsement.  Since  his  celebrated  «  4th  of  March  " 


100  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

speech,  in"  the  Senate,  Mr.  Webster  had  been  a 
favorite  in  the  South.  He  had  abandoned  the 
Wilmot  Proviso  and  accepted  the  Fugitive-slave 
law  to  conciliate  the  sections,  and  the  addition  of 
Ms  great  name  to  seal  the  Compromise  of  1850 
was  regarded  in  the  South  as  an  act  of  patriotism 
reached  by  few  men  in  the  country's  history.  His 
speech  had  made  a  profound  impression.  "  The 
friends  of  the  Union  under  the  Constitution  were 
strengthened  in  their  hopes,  and  inspired  with  re 
newed  energies  by  its  high  and  lofty  sentiments." 
Commanding  always  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
the  Southern  people  Mr.  Webster  now  took  the 
place  in  their  affections  just  made  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Henry  Clay.  Mr.  Webster  must  have 
put  aside  all  political  ambition  when  he  made 
this  peaceful  concession.  His  new-found  strength 
in  the  South  .did  not  add  to  his  popularity  in 
the  North.  When  the  Whig  convention  of  1852 
met  in  Baltimore,  Mr.  Webster  was  Secretary  of 
State  under  President  Fillmore.  He  had  added 
fresh  luster  to  his  name  by  his  latest  services  to 
the  nation.  But  the  prestige  of  his  life  and  labors 
did  not  override  the  passions  of  the  hour,  and  Win- 
field  Scott  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency. 
This  broke  the  last  tie  which  held  the  Southern 
Whigs  in  national  allegiance.  Circumstances  were 
forcing  them  into  the  Democratic  party,  but  they 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1852.  101 

made  a  final   stand   under   the   name   of  Daniel 
Webster. 

To  Mr.  Toombs,  the  regard  of  the  Whigs  of 
Georgia  for  Mr.  Webster  was  especially  gratifying. 
He  had  lived  next  door  to  the  great  Massachusetts 
statesman  during  his  residence  in  Washington, 
and  had  seen  him  often  in  the  privacy  of  his 
home.  He  had  consulted  closely  with  him  during 
the  exciting  days  of  the  compromise  measures, 
and  was  advised  by  Mr.  Webster  about  the  Whig 
platform  at  Baltimore.  He  recognized  the  sur 
passing  greatness  of  the  man,  and  when  he  sounded 
the  praises  of  Webster  it  came  straight  from  an 
honest  heart. 

Charles  J.  Jenkins,  a  native  of  Beaufort,  S.  C., 
had  studied  law  with  Senator  Berrien  and  practiced 
in  Augusta.  His  nomination  to  second  place  on 
the  Webster  ticket  was  a  pledge  of  the  high  favor 
of  the  Whigs.  Mr.  Jenkins  was  five  years  the 
senior  of  Mr.  Toombs ;  had  served  with  him  in 
the  State  Legislature  and,  like  Toombs,  had  been 
allied  with  the  Troup  party  in  Georgia.  Mr. 
Jenkins  had  been  three  times  Speaker  of  the  lower 
branch  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  1842 
had  received  the  entire  Whig  vote  for  United 
States  Senator.  Upon  the  resignation  of  Mc- 
Kennon  of  Pennsylvania,  President  Fillmore  had, 
throuo-h  Mr.  Toombs,  offered  the  Interior  Depart- 


102  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ment  to  Mr.  Jenkins.  This  position,  however, 
was  declined  because  of  pressing  duties  in  the 
courts. 

In  the  senatorial  election  of  1851  Mr.  Jenkins 
would  have  been  a  formidable  candidate  for 
United  States  Senator  again,  had  not  his  strong 
friendship  both  for  Senator  Berrien  and  Mr. 
Toombs  dictated  his  declining  the  use  of  his 
name.  He  was  a  man  of  high  ability  and  pure 
character. 

Georgia  became  a  national  battle-ground  during 
this  campaign.  Besides  the  regular  Whig  and 
Democratic  and  the  Webster  tickets,  there  was  an 
extreme  faction  of  States'  Rights  men,  who  would 
not  accept  any  of  these  candidates.  They  called 
on  George  M.  Troup,  then  living  in  retirement  in 
Montgomery  County.  He  wrote  a  ringing  letter 
accepting  the  nomination  of  the  "  Southern  Rights  " 
party  for  President.  He  was  seventy-two  years 
old,  but  his  cherished  principles,  which  he  had  pro 
claimed  in  the  face  of  Adams  and  Jackson,  were 
now  repeated  for  the  people  of  another  generation, 

The  gallant  body  of  Union  Whigs  were  destined 
to  deep  affliction.  On  the  24th  of  October,  1852, 
ten  days  before  the  national  election,  Daniel  Web 
ster  died.  The  land  wras  filled  with  lamentation, 
for  there  was  no  North,  no  South,  in  this  sorrow. 

The  State  of  Georgia,  which  in  1848  had  voted 
for  Taylor,  now  turned  about  and  voted  for  Pierce 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1852.  103 

and  King.  On  November  2d  the  South  Carolina 
Legislature  also  cast  135  votes  for  the  Pierce 
electors.  General  Scott  carried  but  four  States 
in  the  Union,  caused,  as  Mr.  Stephens  and  Mr. 
Toombs  thought,  by  his  refusal  to  indorse  the 
Compromise  of  1850. 

On  July  3,  1852,  Mr.  Toombs,  then  a  member 
of  the  House,  submitted  an  elaborate  statement  of 
his  political  position.  He  made  the  point  that 
presidents,  as  then  put  forward,  were  not  real 
representatives  of  the  country  or  even  of  a  party. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  government  up  to 
1836  the  presidency  had  been  filled  by  ripe 
statesmen  and  tried  patriots.  All  were  excluded 
from  competition  except  those  who  had  great 
experience  in  public  affairs,  and  who  had  com 
mended  themselves  to  the  people  by  wisdom, 
virtue,  and  high  services.  Such  men  had  no  need 
of  hired  biographers  and  venal  letter-writers  to 
inform  the  people  who  they  were.  They  needed 
no  interpreters  of  letters  to  the  public,  cunningly 
devised  to  mystify  what  they  pretended  to  eluci 
date.  National  conventions,  Mr.  Toombs  con 
tended,  were  contrivances  to  secure  popular  sup 
port  to  those  who  were  not  entitled  to  public  con 
fidence. 

Mr.  Toombs  was  an  enemy  to  mere  convention. 
All  party  machinery,  all  irregular  organizations, 
which  are  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  he  re- 


104  ROBERT  TOOMB8. 

garded  as  dangerous  to  public  liberty.  He  Lad 
noticed  that  this  machinery  had  been  deadly  to 
the  great  men  of  the  nation  and  productive  only 
of  mediocrity.  Obedience  to  them,  he  contended, 
was  infidelity  to  popular  rights.  "  This  system," 
said  he,  "  has  produced  none  of  those  illustrious 
men  who  have  become  so  distinguished  in  their 
country's  history;  none  of  those  political  lights 
which  have  shone  so  brilliantly  on  this  Western 
continent  for  half  a  century.  Nearly  all  of  them 
have  departed  from  us.  Who  is  to  take  the 
place  of  the  distinguished  Carolinian  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  He  was  the  handiwork  of  God  himself  and  of 
the  people — not  party  machinery.  Who  is  to 
fill  the  place  of  the  great  Kentuckian  ?  When 
worthily  filled,  it  will  not  be  by  these  nurseries 
of  faction. 

"The  friends  of  the  Compromise,"  said  Mr. 
Toombs,  "  demand  no  sectional  candidate.  They 
were  willing  to  accept  the  great  New  England 
statesman,  notwithstanding  they  may.  point  to 
disagreements  with  him  in  the  past.  He  has 
thrown  the  weight  of  his  mighty  intellect  into  "the 
scales  of  concord,  in  the  darkest  and  most  peril 
ous  hour  of  the  conflict.  And  Southern  Whigs 
would  have  struggled  with  pride  and  energy  to 
have  seen  the  greatest  intellect  of  the  age  preside 
over  the  greatest  republic  of  the  world.  He  was 
defeated  in  convention  by  the  enemies  of  the 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1852.  105 

compromise  measure,  because  he  was  its  friend. 
And  this  was  the  true  reason  of  his  exclusion. 
It  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  friends  of  the 
measure,  North  and  South,  to  oppose  and  defeat 
General  Scott's  nomination.  My  action  shall 
respond  to  my  convictions." 

Mr.  Toombs  had  seen  Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Web 
ster,  one  by  one,  retired  before  Van  Buren,  Harri 
son,    and   Scott.     Was   it   any   wonder  that,   in 
breaking   away   from   the   old   Whig   party,   he 
should  denounce  the  system  which  had  blighted 
its  brightest  men  and  which,  in  his  opinion,  had 
retirecf  the  greatest  statesman  in  the  world  before 
an  issue  of  sectional  prejudice  ?     Mr.  Toombs  never 
again   gave   allegiance  to  conventions  or  obeyed 
the  dictates  of  party  caucuses.      From  1854  to 
1860  he  was  a  Democrat.     After  the  war  he  acted 
mainly  with  the  party  which  sympathized  with 
the  South.     But  his  great  power  made  him  inde 
pendent.     He  did  not  hesitate  to  criticise  Pierce 
or  Buchanan,  or  to  upbraid  Jefferson  Davis,  the 
head  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.     He  repudi 
ated   the   nomination  of  Horace  Greeley  by  his 
party.     He  called  a  meeting  in  his  own  room  in 
an  Atlanta  hotel  in  1872,  and  put  A.  H.  Stephens 
before  the  people  for  Congress.     In  1878,  whei 
the  or-anizecl  Democracy  of  Georgia  antagonized 
Dr    William   H.    Felton    for    Congress    in  the 
seventh  Georgia  district,  Mr  Toombs  wrote  a  letter 


3  06  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

to  the  press,  in  which  he  declared  that  party  con 
ventions  were  merely  advisory.  "  When  their 
action  becomes  authoritative,  they  are  usurpers. 
They  deprive  the  people  of  free  elections.  Let 
their  actions  be  approved  or  disapproved  by  the 
elections  of  the  people."  He  supported  Mr. 
Stephens,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  "  tote  his  own 
skillet,"  when  occasion  required.  Toombs'  inde 
pendence  was  lordly.  He  believed  in  the  utmost 
freedom  in  public  affairs.  Machinery  was  as 
hateful  to  him  as  to  Thomas  Jefferson.  He  was 
"  the  prince  of  innovation  ;  the  foe  to  all  conven 
tion."  No  less  than  of  Burke,  it  was  said  of  him 
that  "  born  for  the  universe,  he  did  not  surrender 
to  party,"  but  General  Longstreet  declared  of 
Robert  Toombs  that  he  needed  only  discipline  to 
make  him  a  great  military  genius.  This  was  the 
radical  flaw  in  his  make-up.  How  near  he  came 
to  the  ideal  of  a  statesman  posterity  must  judge. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

TOOMBS    IN   THE     SENATE. 

*  WHEN  Robert  Toombs  entered  the  Senate  of 
the    United    States,  in    1853,  the  personnel  of 
that   body  had   changed  since  the  great  debates 
on  the  compromise  measures.     Calhoun  had  died 
before  the  compromise  was  effected,  and  only  a 
short  time  after  his  last  address  had  been  read  to 
the  Senate  by  Mr.  Mason  of  Virginia.      Clay  sur 
vived  his  last  greatest  work  but  two  years,  and 
on  the  29th  of  June,  1852,  was  no  more.     Daniel 
Webster  lived  only  four  months  longer  than  Mr. 
Clay.     Among  the  new  leaders  in  that  body  were 
Stephen    A.    Douglas    of   Illinois,  William    M. 
Seward  of  New  York,  Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio, 
and  Charles  Sumner  of   Massachusetts.     To  this 
list  may  be  added  the  familiar  names  of  Thompson 
of   Mississippi,  Bayard  of  Delaware,  Toucey   of 
Connecticut,  'Slidell    of    Louisiana,   Achison    of 
Missouri,  Bell  of  Tennessee,  and  Cass  of  Michi 
gan. 

The  third  great  sectional  fight  on  the  Terntone 
came  up  on  the  report  to   organize  a  government 
for  that  tract   of   public    domain   lying  in  the 

107 


108  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Louisiana  cession,  known  as  Kansas  and  Nebraska. 
In  doing  this,  Mr.  Douglas,  as  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Territories,  adopted  the  same  prin 
ciple  on  the  slavery  question  as  had  been  settled 
in  the  Utah  and  New  Mexico  bills  of  1850. 

The  words  of  the  Nebraska  bill  were  that  "  said 
Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be 
received  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery 
as  their  constitutions  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of 
their  admission."  Mr.  Douglas  claimed  that  the 
question  of  congressional  interference  was  an 
"exploded  doctrine";  that  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise  bill  had  been  ignored  by  North  and  South  ; 
that  the  Wilmot  Proviso  had  been  rejected 
altogether;  and  that  the  principles  of  1850  had 
superseded  the  principles  of  1820.  The  committee 
sought  to  avoid  the  perils  of  slavery  agitation  for 
all  time,  they  claimed,  by  withdrawing  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  from  the  halls  of  Congress  and 
from  national  politics.  "  Let  the  new  States  and 
Territories,"  they  said,  u  settle  this  matter  for  them 
selves."  Mr.  Sumner  of  Massachusetts  took  the 
lead  in  opposing  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  He 
declared  that  the  bill  violated  the  principles  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  which  prohibited  slavery  in 
all  that  territory  ceded  by  France  and  lying  north 
of  36°  30'.  He  and  his  friends  held  that  this  was 
a  "sacred  compact,"  and  this  territory  could  not 


TOO  MBS  IN  THE  SENATE.  109 

be  controlled  \>y  the  same  principles  as  the  land 
secured  from  Mexico. 

The  second  bill  drawn  by  Mr.  Douglas,  which 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  two  territorial 
governments  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  instead  of 
one,  expressly  repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise 
as  being  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  non 
intervention  by  Congress.  Here,  then,  the  contest 
waged  anew. 

One  of  the  first  speeches  made  by  Senator 
Toombs  was  on  the  23d  of  February,  1854,  on  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill. 

Douglas  was  in  charge  of  the  Territorial  bills, 
and  his  readiness  in  debate,  his  sinewy  intellect, 
his  tact  and  shrewdness,  had  gained  for  him  the 
name  of  "  Little  Giant."  Seward,  Chase,  and 
Simmer  had  been  elected  from  their  States  as 
"independent  Democrats"  by  the  Abolitionists, 
who  held  the  balance  of  power  in  New  York,  Ohio, 
and  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Toombs  was  more  than 
willing  to  measure  swords  with  the  champions  of 
free  soil.  He  declared  that  he  would  address  him 
self  to  the  consideration  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
bill  "  with  a  heart  filled  with  gratitude  to-  the 
Disposer  of  human  events,  that  after  the  conflicts 
of  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  this  great  ques 
tion  has  found  its  solution,  not  in  temporary  ex 
pedients  for  allaying  sectional  discord,  but  in  the 


110  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

true  principles  of  the  Constitution  and  upon  the 
broad  foundation  of  justice  and  right,  which  forms 
the  only  true  basis  of  fraternity  and  of  national 
concord." 

Mr.  Toombs  repudiated  the  libel  cast  by  Mr. 
Simmer  upon  Northern  men  who  "  dared  to  exercise 
the  rights  of  freemen  "  and  differ  from  the  Aboli 
tionists  upon  this  question.  "  It  appears,"  said 
he,  "  from  the  speeches  of  the  senator  from 
Massachusetts,  that  all  such  are  white  slaves, 
whose  manhood  has  been  debased  and  enervated 
by  the  irresistible  attractions  of  slave  power." 
He  declared  that  the  men  who  talked  about 
"  solemn  compact  "  in  this  connection  were  men 
whom  "  no  oaths  can  bind  and  no  covenants  re 
strain."  They  called  the  Missouri  Compromise 
a  compact,  yet  showed  their  willingness  to  vio 
late  it. 

"In  all  governments,"  said  Mr.  Toombs,  "the 
acquisitions  of  the  state  belong  rightfully  to  the 
people.  Much  more  strongly  does  this  principle 
apply  to  a  purely  popular  government.  There 
fore,  any  exercise  of  power  to  injure  or  destroy 
those  who  have  equal  rights  of  enjoyment  is 
arbitrary,  unauthorized  by  the  contract,  and 
despotic." 

"  You  have  no  power  to  strike  from  the  meanest 
Indian  trapper,  the  basest  trader  or  camp-follower, 
as  the  senator  from  New  York  styled  these  peo- 


TOO  MBS  IN  THE  SENATE.  Ill 


pie,  their  equal  privileges,  this  sovereignty  of 
right,  which  is  the  birthright  of  every  American 
citizen.  This  sovereignty  may — nay,  it  must- 
remain  in  abeyance  until  society  becomes  suffi 
ciently  strong  and  stable  to  be  entitled  to  its  full 
exercise,  as  sovereignty  does  not  belong  to  the 
general  government,  and  its  exercise  is  a  marked 
usurpation." 

"The  power  and  duty,  then,  of  this  government 
over  the  inchoate  society  of  the  Territories,  is 
simply  to  protect  this  equality  of  right  of  persons 
and  property  of  all  the  members  of  society  until 
the  period  shall  arrive  when  this  dormant  sov 
ereignty  shall  spring  into  active  existence  and 
exercise  all  the  powers  of  a  free,  sovereign,  and 
independent  State.  Then  it  can  mold,  according 
to  its  own  sovereign  will  and  pleasure,  its  own 
institutions,  with  the  single  restriction  that  they 
must  be  republican." 

"Justice,"  said  Mr.  Toombs,  "is  the  highest 
expediency,  the  supremest  wisdom.  Applying 
that  test  to  the  principles  of  this  measure,  I  say 
that  no  fair  man  in  any  portion  of  the  country 
can  come  to  any  other  conclusion  than  that  it 
establishes  between  the  people  of  this  Union,  who 
are  bound  together  under  a  common  Constitution, 
a  firm,  a  permanent,  a  lasting  bond  of  harmony. 

"  What  is  it  that  we  of  the  South  ask?  Do  we 
make  any  unjust  or  unequal  demands  on  the 


112  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

North?  None.  Do  we  ask  what  we  are  not 
willing  on  our  side  to  grant  to  them  ?  Not  at  all. 
We  say  to  them  i  Gentlemen,  here  is  our  common 
territory.  Whether  it  be  ceded  by  old  States, 
whether  it  be  acquired  by  the  common  treasure, 
or  was  the  fruits  of  successful  war  to  which  we 
rallied,  and  in  which  we  all  fought,  we  ask  you  to 
recognize  this  great  principle  of  the  revolution : 
let  such  as  desire,  go  there,  enjoy  their  property, 
take  with  them  their  flocks  and  herds,  their  nien- 
servants  and  maid-servants,  if  they  desire  to  take 
them  there ;  and  when  the  appropriate  time  conies 
for  the  exercise  of  the  dormant  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  let  them  fix  the  character  of  their  institu 
tions  for  themselves.' ' 

Senator  Toombs  ridiculed  the  idea  of  the 
"  thunder  of  popular  indignation."  "  If  even  this 
were  true,  it  should  in  no  wise  control  the  actions 
of  American  senators.  But  it  is  not  real  but 
melodramatic  thunder — nothing  but  phosphorus 
and  sheet-iron." 

Senator  Toombs  admitted  that  the  North  had 
the  power  to  reject  the  principles  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill.  They  had  a  majority  in  the  House 
and  Senate.  Aristides  had  said, a  True,  you  can 
do  it ;  you  have  got  the  power ;  but,  Athenians,  it 
is.  unjust." 

Senator  Toombs  was  a  bold  man.  When  he 
adopted  a  line  of  argument,  he  was  willing  to  fol- 


ROBERT   TOOMB8,    UNITED   STATES  SENATOR  FROM  GEORGIA,    1855. 


TOO  MBS  IN  THE  SENATE.  113 

low  wherever  its  conclusions  led.  He  did  not 
hesitate,  in  this  speech,  to  admit  that  "  if  you 
yield  to  the  people  the  right  to  mold  their  institu 
tions,  the  establishment  of  polygamy  may  result 
legitimately  therefrom."  This  point  had  been 
made  in  debate  to  fight  the  principle  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  Said  Senator  Toombs : 
"  It  is  just  what  they  have  a  right  to  do.  When 
the  people  of  Utah  make  their  organic  law  for  ad 
mission  to  the  Union,  they  have  a  right  to  ap 
proximate,  as  nearly  as  they  please,  the  domestic 
manners  of  the  Patriarchs.  Connecticut  may  es 
tablish  -polygamy  to-morrow.  The  people  of 
Massachusetts  may  do  the  same.  How  did  they 
become  possessed  of  greater  rights,  in  this  or  any 
other  respect,  than  the  people  of  Utah  ?  The 
1-io-ht  in  both  cases  has  the  same  foundation— the 

o 

sovereignty  of  the  people." 

Senator  Toombs  adverted  to  the  fact  that  Henry 
Clay  had  denied  that  he  framed  the  Missouri 
Compromise;  that  it  did  not  originate  in  the 
House,  of  which  he  was  a  member ;  that  he  did 
not  even  know  if  he  voted  for  it.  Senator  Toombs 
held  the  Act  of  1820  to  be  no  compact— binding 
upon  no  man  of  honor ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a 
plain  and  palpable  violation  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  common  rights  of  the  citizens,  and  ought  to 
be  immediately  abrogated  and  repealed.  He  de 
clared  that  it  had  been  rejected  by  the  North 


114  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

when  passed,  and  rejected  when  Arkansas  was 
admitted,  when  Oregon  was  formed,  when  Cali 
fornia  was  received  as  a  State.  If  the  Kansas 
bill  was  settled  upon  sound  and  honest  principles, 
he  maintained  that  it  should  be  applied  to  territory 
ceded  from  France  just  as  elsewhere.  He  con 
tended  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  of  1820  was 
not  a  compromise  in  any  sense  of  the  term,  but  an 
unconstitutional  usurpation  of  power.  "  When 
we  look  into  the  Constitution,  we  find  no  anti- 
slavery  power  planted  in  that  instrument.  On  the 
contrary,  we  find  that  it  amply  provides  for 
the  perpetuity  and  not  for  the  extinction  of 
slavery." 

Senator  Toombs  closed  his  first  speech  in  the 
Senate  with  these  words :  "  The  senator  from 
New  York  asks  where  and  when  the  application 
of  these  principles  will  stop.  He  wishes  not  to 
be  deceived  in  the  future,  and  asks  us  whether, 
when  we  bring  the  Chinese  and  other  distant 
nations  under  our  flag,  we  are  to  apply  these  prin 
ciples  to  them  ?  For  one,  I  answer  yes ;  that 
wherever  the  flag  of  the  Union  shall  float,  this 
republican  principle  will  follow  it,  even  if  it 
should  gather  under  its  ample  folds  the  freemen 
of  every  portion  of  the  universe." 

The  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  reopened  the  whole 
question  of  slavery.  In  the  North,  it  was  a  fire 
brand.  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  his  book,  written  after 


TOOMBS  IN  THE  SENATE.  115 

his  retirement  from  the  presidency,  said  that  the 
South  was  for  the  first  time  the  aggressor  in  this 
legislation.  Mr.  Fillmore  declared  that  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  "  the  Pandora 
Box  of  Evil."  Mr.  Douglas  was  reviled  by  his 
opponents  and  burned  in  effigy  at  the  North.  His 
leadership  in  this  fight  was  ascribed  to  his  over 
weening  ambition  to  reach  the  presidency.  The 
clergymen  of  New  England  and  of  Chicago 
flooded  the  Senate  with  petitions  crying  against 
this  "intrigue."  On  May  26,  1854,  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  bill  passed  the  Senate 
by  a  vote  of  31  to  13.  The  "nays  "  were  Messrs. 
Allen,  Bell,  Chase,  Clayton,  Fish,  Foote,  Gillet, 
Hamlin,  James,  Seward,  Simmer,  Wade,  and 
Walker. 

The  enactment  of  this  measure  into  a  law  did 
not  settle  the  question.  It  resulted  in  a  strife  in 
the  Territories  themselves.  For  two  years  Kansas 
was  in  a  state  of  civil  war.  The  Emigrant  Aid 
Societies  of  New  England  raised  large  sums  of 
money  to  send  to  the  Territories  Free-Soil  set 
tlers  and  other  agitators.  A  counter-stream  ^of 
agitators  set  in  from  Missouri,  in  sympathy  with 
the  slavery  men,  and  the  result  was  a  long  series 
of  bloody  disorders.  In  February,  1856,  Mr. 
Toombs  made  a  speech  upon  the  message  of  the 
President  in  regard  to  the  lawless  condition  of 
Kansas.  The  Governor  informed  President  Pierce 


116  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

that  the  laws  were  obstructed  and  openly  resisted 
by  bodies  of  armed  men;  that  prisoners  were 
rescued  from  the  sheriffs,  peaceable  inhabitants 
murdered,  and  houses  burned.  Another  authority 
informed  the  President  that  an  overwhelming 
force  was  crossing  the  border  for  the  avowed 

o 

purpose  of  invading  Kansas  and  butchering  the 
unoffending  Free-State  citizens.  One  side  claimed 
protection  from  insurrection  within,  the  other 
from  invasion  without. 

As  to  the  Emigrant  Aid  Societies,  Mr.  Toombs 

o 

said,  "  Whatever  be  their  policy,  whatever  their 
tendency  to  produce  strife,  if  they  simply  aid 
emigrants  from  Massachusetts  to  go  to  Kansas  to 
become  citizens  of  that  Territory,  I  am  prepared 
to  say  that  they  violate  no  law;  they  have  a 
right  to  do  it,  and  every  attempt  to  prevent  their 
doing  so  violates  the  law  and  ought  not  to 
be  sustained.  But  if  they  send  persons  there 
furnished  with  arms,  with  the  intent  to  offer 
forcible  resistance  to  the  constituted  authorities, 
they  are  guilty  of  the  highest  crime  known  to 
civil  society,  and  are  amenable  to  its  penalties. 
I  shall  not  undertake  to  decide  upon  their  con 
duct.  The  facts  are  not  before  me,  and  I  there 
fore  pass  it  by." 

Mr.  Toombs  thought  it  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine  a  case  calling  more  loudly  for  the  inter 
vention  of  Federal  power.  Mr.  Toombs  favored 


TOOMBS  IN  THE  SENATE.  llY 

the  supremacy  of  the  law  in  the  Territories  at 
any  cost.  "  If  traitors  seek  to  disturb  the  peace 
of  the  country,  I  desire  that  it  shall  be  no  sec 
tional  contest.  .  I  do  not  see  the  end  of  that.  I 
prefer  that  the  conflict  shall  be  between  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  lawless.  I  can  see 
the  end  of  that.  The  law  will  triumph  and  the 
evil  stop." 

"  We  who  pass  this  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  both 
at  the  North  and  South,  intend  to  maintain  its 
principles.  We  do  not  intend  to  be  driven  from 
them  by  clamor  nor  by  assault.  We  intend  that 
the  actual  bona  fide  settlers  of  Kansas  shall  be 
protected  in  the  full  exercise  of  all  the  rights  of 
freemen ;  that,  unawed  and  uncontrolled,  they 
shall  freely  and  of  their  own  will  legislate  for 
themselves,  to  every  extent  allowed  by  the  Con 
stitution,  while  they  have  a  territorial  govern 
ment  ;  and  when  they  shall  be  in  a  condition  to 
come  into  the  Union  and  may  desire  it,  that  they 
shall  come  into  the  Union  with  whatever  repub 
lican  constitution  they  may  prefer  and  adopt  for 
themselves ;  that  in  the  exercise  of  their  rights 
they  shall  be  protected  from  insurrection  from 
within  and  invasion  from  without." 

In  answer  to  Senator  Hale  of  New  Hampshire, 
Senator  Toombs  agreed  that  the  Territory  of  Kan 
sas  would  certainly  be  a  free  State.  Such,  he 
thought  would  be  its  future  destiny.  "  The  sen- 


118  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ator  from  New  Hampshire,"  lie  said,  "  was  unable 
to  comprehend  the  principles  of  the  bill.  The 
friends  of  the  Kansas  bill,  North  and  South,  sup 
ported  the  bill  because  it  was  right,  and  left  the 
future  to  those  who  were  affected  by  it.  The 
policy  of  the  Kansas  bill  wrongs  no  man,  no  sec 
tion  of  our  common  country.  We  have  never 
asked  the  government  to  carry  by  force,  or  in  any 
way,  slavery  anywhere.  We  only  demand  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Territories  shall  decide  the 
question  for  themselves  without  the  interference 
of  the  government  or  the  intermeddling  of  those 
who  have  no  right  to  decide." 

Mr.  Toombs  and  Senator  Hale  of  New  Hamp 
shire  seem  to  have  been  pitted  squarely  against 
each  other  in  this  great  debate. 

In  1854,  during  the  progress  of  the  Kansas  de 
bate,  Mr.  Toombs  occupied  Mr.  Hale's  desk,  and 
alluded  to  the  taunts  which  Mr.  Hale  had  heaped 
upon  the  heads  of  senators  who  had  sustained 
the  compromise  measures  of  1850.  He  had  pre 
dicted  that  they  would  be  driven  from  their  seats ; 
that  the  mighty  North  would  drive  them  from 
their  benches.  The  distinguished  senator  from 
Michigan,  Mr.  Cass,  was  the  especial  object  of 
these  assaults.  "  But  the  result,"  said  Mr.  Toombs, 
looking  about  him,  "  is  that  the  gentleman  who  made 
these  declarations  is  not  here." 

In  1856,  however,  Mr.  Hale  was  returned  to  the 


TOOMBS  IN  THE  SENA TE.  119 

Senate  and  met  Mr.  Toombs  in  the  Kansas  debate, 
and  the  discussion  was  continued  with  the  same 
acrimony. 

"  Let  there  be  no  legislative  aggression  on  either 
side,"  continued  Mr.  Toombs.  "If  the  senator 
from  New  Hampshire  is  sincere,  he  will  stand 
there.  The  common  property  is  open  to  the 
common  enjoyment  of  all.  Let  it  remain  so." 

Mr.  Toombs  charged  Senator  Hale  with  saying 
that  the  North  had  always  been  practically  in  a 
minority  in  the  Senate,  because  the  South  bought 
up  as  many  Northern  men  as  it  wanted.  "  Sir,  I 
stand  here  to-day  in  behalf  of  the  North  to  repel 
the  accusation." 

Mr.  Hale  :  "Who  made  it?  " 

Mr.  Toombs  :  "  You  said  it.  I  have  it  before 
me  in  your  printed  speech.  I  heard  it  delivered, 
and  you  are  correctly  reported." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  B.  F.  Hallet  of  Boston,  in 
1856,  Mr.  Toombs  denied  saying  that  he  would 
"  call  the  roll  of  his  slaves  at  the  base  of  Bunker 
Hill  Monument."  He  charged  Senator  Hale  with 
misrepresenting  him  to  this  extent. 

No  man  was  oftener  misquoted  by  word  of 
mouth  or  in  public  print.  As  bold  as  he  was  in 
speech  and  as  free  to  speak  out  what  was  in  his 
mind,  he  once  remarked  to  an  intimate  friend,  Dr. 
Steiner  of  Augusta,  that  he  rarely  ever  saw  his 
name  in  print  that  it  was  not  attached  to  a  lie. 


120  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

We  are  not  left  to  tradition  or  the  dictum  of 
political  opponents  to  know  how  seriously  Mr. 
Toombs  regarded  the  question  of  war  between 
the  North  and  South.  In  this  same  debate  with 
Senator  Hale,  Mr.  Toombs  said  :  "  He  told  us  the 
North  would  fight.  I  believe  that  nobody  ever 
doubted  that  any  portion  of  the  United  States 
would  fight  on  a  proper  occasion.  Sir,  if  there 
shall  ever  be  civil  war  in  this  country,  when  hon 
est  men  shall  set  about  cutting  each  other's  throats, 
those  who  are  least  to  be  depended  upon  in  a 
fight  will  be  the  people  who  set  them  at  it. 
There  are  courageous  and  honest  men  enough  in 

both  sections  to  fight No,  sir,  there  is  no 

question  of  courage  involved.  The  people  of  both 
sections  of  the  Union  have  illustrated  their  cour 
age  on  too  many  battlefields  to  be  questioned. 
They  have  shown  their  fighting  qualities,  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  whenever  their  country  has  called 
upon  them;  but  that  they  may  never  come  in 
contact  with  each  other  in  fratricidal  war,  should 
be  the  ardent  Avish  and  earnest  desire  of  every  true 
man  and  honest  patriot." 


CHAPTER  X. 

X. 

THE    "  KNOW-NOTHING  "    PAETY. 

IN  the  fall  of  1854  the  elections  were  generally 
adverse  to  the  Democrats.  The  slavery  agitation 
at  the  North,  intensified  by  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  resulted  in  a  large  number 
of  Free-Soil  candidates  and  "  anti-Nebraska " 
Whigs  being  elected  to  the  House.  In  the  West 
and  South,  the  u  Know-nothing  "  movement  had 
arisen  as  in  a  single  night,  and  with  secrecy  and 

strength  had  asserted  itself  on  election  day.     The 

•  .  •      • 

consequence  was  that  the  Democratic  majority  in 

the  House  which  had  been  elected  with  Franklin 
Pierce  now  disappeared.  The  years  of  1854-55 
were  full  of  uncertainty  in  Georgia.  The  old- 
line  Whigs,  who  had  broken  away  from  their 
party  associates  upon  the  nomination  of  General 
Scott  for  President,  had  not  yet  gone  into  full 
affiliation  with  the  Democrats.  Many  of  these 
men  joined  the  "American  party,"  which  had 
arisen  out  of  antagonism  to  the  large  foreign 
population  flowing  into  the  States  and  Territories. 
This  party  put  out  candidates  for  Congress  and 
the  State  offices  in  Georgia. 


121 


122  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

To  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  more  than  to  any 
other  man,  was  due  the  honor  of  breaking  up  the 
Know-nothing  movement  in  Georgia.  Amazed  at 
the  rapidity  with  which  this  party  organized  and 
the  completeness  with  which  it  worked ;  repudi- 
ating  the  principles  which  it  held  and  the  pro 
scriptions  which  it  enforced,  Alexander  Stephens 
announced,  early  in  the  day,  that  he  would  not  be 
a  candidate  for  reelection  to  Congress.  He  de 
clared,  in  a  letter,  that,  from  the  secrecy  of  the 
order,  he  was  unable  to  knoAv  what  they  were 
doing,  and,  as  political  principles  should  come  out 
in  the  open  sunlight  for  inspection,  he  could  not 
submit  his  candidacy  to  any  such  concern.  He 
did  not  hesitate  to  condemn  the  practices  and 
creed  of  the  American  party  in  public.  Promi 
nent  leaders  in  his  district  who  recognized  his 
ability  made  it  known  that  they  were  willing  to 
support  him,  if  he  would  not  be  so  severe  in  his 
denunciations.  Mr.  Stephens  promptly  replied 
that  the  crisis  required  the  knife,  not  the  poultice. 
However,  he  did  run  for  Congress  and  scored  the 
secret  order  on  every  stump  in  the  district.  He 
declared,  in  a  speech  in  Augusta,  that  he  "was 
not  afraid  of  anything  on  the  earth,  above  the 
earth,  or  below  the  earth,  except  to  do  wrong." 
Mr.  Stephens  was  elected.  Religious  fanaticism 
and  race  prejudice  received  a  death  blow  in 


THE  "KNOW-NOTHING"  PARTY.  123 

Georgia.  "  It  .writhed  in  pain,  and  died  among  its 
worshipers."  «* 

Mr.  Tooinbs  had  already  made  himself  felt  in 
this  campaign.  He  was  in  the  shadow  of  a 
domestic  affliction.  His  youngest  daughter  died 
in  February  of  that  year.  This  occurrence 
brought  him  to  decide  upon  a  trip  abroad,  which 
he  had  long  anticipated,  but  which  his  busy  and 
eventful  life  had  not  allowed  him  to  enjoy. 

In  April,  1855,  he  wrote  his  wife  : 

I  feel  more  and  more  anxious  to  get  abroad  and  out  of 
this  country  ;  to  be  relieved  of  the  thousand  harassments 
of  business,  and  look  for  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  in  our 
quiet  and  uninterrupted  strolling  over  the  hills  and  plains 
of  Europe,  where  nobody  knows  us  and  nobody  can  harass 
me  with  business  or  their  troubles.  I  wish  I  could,  like  our 
darling  child,  thank  God  there  was  rest  in  Heaven. 

Just  before  he  left  the  State,  he  attended  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Georgia,  at  Milledgeville.  At 
that  time  he  wrote  his  wife : 

I  have  had  a  hard,  close  week's  work.  The  lawyers 
very  kindly  gave  way  and  allowed  my  cases  to  corne  this 
week,  which  brought  them  very  close  together,  and,  as  I 
am  but  ill  prepared  for  them,  not  having  given  them  any 
attention  last  winter,  and  but  little  this  spring,  I  have  been 
pretty  much  speaking  all  day  and  studying  all  night — >and 
that  without  the  benefit  of  "  specks,"  which  I  am  begin 
ning  to  need. 

All  the  old  Whigs    here  have  joined  the  Know-noth- 


124  ROBERT  WOMBS. 

ings,  and  keep  very  shy  of  me,  as  I  have  spoken  not  softly 
of  the  miserable  wretches  who  expect  to  govern  a  great 
country  like  this  with  imbecility,  if  they  can  only  cover  it 
with  secrecy.  I  have  been  greatly  beset  not  to  go  to  Eu 
rope  this  summer,  as  the  political  campaign  is  likely  to  be 
hot.  I  shall  go,  and  the  rather  that  I  may  avoid  such  an 
event,  and  take  that  leisure  and  repose  with  my  family  in 
foreign  countries  which  I  seem  to  be  totally  incapable  of 
getting  at  home. 

Mr.  Toombs  left  no  doubt  as  to  how  he  regarded 

o 

the  American  party.  In  a  speech  on  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  he  had  declared  that  the  country 
could  assimilate  the  foreigners  from  Europe  and 
the  Chinamen  from  Asia,  and  gather  under  the 
ample  folds  of  the  American  flag  every  nation  on 
earth. 

It  is  related  that  in  the  early  part  of  Mr. 
Toombs'  political  career  he  was  accused  of 
having  subscribed  to  build  a  Catholic  church 
in  Georgia.  The  charge  was  repeated  secretly 
from  ear  to  ear  until  it  came  to  Lis  friends.  It 
was  on  the  eve  of  an  election  in  Wilkes  County, 
and  a  delegation,  in  spite  of  the  lateness  of  the 
hour,  went  to  Mr.  Toombs7  residence,  awoke  him, 
and  asked  for  an  authoritative  denial  of  what  they 
considered  a  damaging  charge.  Mr.  Toombs  list 
ened  to  the  delegation,  and  then  declared  with 

o  7 

emphasis,  not  free  from  profanity,  that  it  was  so. 
"I  have  responded  to  their  calls  just  as  I  have 
those  of  other  denominations.  You  can  tell  the 


THE  "KNOW-NOTHING"    PARTY.  125 

people  that  the  distribution  of  my  money  is  none' 
of  their  business." 

This  bold  and  prompt  reply  did  not  prevent  his 
reelection  to  the  legislature  the  next  day. 

No  man  was  more  liberal  in  matters  of  religion 
and  conscience  than  Mr.  Toombs.  In  1851  he 
wrote  his  wife  in  reply  to  a  letter  informing  him 
that  his  daughter  wanted  to  join  the  Methodist 
Church  : 

I  am  content  if  she  desires,  and  you  wish  it.  My  opin 
ions  about  revivals,  to  which  you  refer,  have  been  long 
formed  and  much  strengthened  by  my  experience  in  the 
world,  but  I  am  not  at  all  desirous  that  they  should  be  the 
rule  of  anybody's  conduct  but  my  own.  I  have  therefore 
endeavored  to  stand  upon  the  Protestant  principle  in  mat 
ters  of  conscience,  of  judging  for  myself  and  allowing  oth 
ers  to  do  the  same.  The  Judge  of  the  Earth  will  do  right 
at  the  final  hearing. 

On  June  6,  1855,  Mr.  Toombs  set  sail  from 
New  York,  in  company  with  his  wife  and  daugh 
ter,  and  Mr.  W.  F.  Alexander,  his  son-at-law.  In 
ten  days,  after  a  smooth  trip,  he  landed  in  Liver 
pool,  with  just  enough  roughness  off  the  coast  of 
Ireland  to  show  old  Neptune  in  his  element.  Mr. 
Toombs  was  in  the  very  prime  of  a  vigorous  life. 
He  had  accumulated  a  competency  at  the  law,  was 
in  fine  physical  condition,  and  had  a  mind  broad, 
sensitive,  and  retentive.  He  could  stand  any 
amount  of  travel — this  man  who  rode  his  cir 
cuits  on  his  horse,  and  who  endured  the  wear- 


126  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ing  trips  from  Georgia  to  the  national  capital. 
He  remarked  at  the  outset  of  his  European  trip 
that  he  had  more  money  than  time,  so  he  secured 
special  conveyances  at  every  available  place,  and 
pushed  his  journey  to  all  points  of  interest.  From 
London  he  went  to  Paris,  Lyons.  Marseilles,  thence 
to  the  Mediterranean,  where  he  passed  the  Fourth 
of  July  plowing  his  way  to  Naples,  sleeping  on 
deck  to  escape  the  stuffy  stateroom  of  the  little 
steamer,  and  catching  all  the  cinders  from  the 
smokestack.  Embarking  at  Naples,  he  went  to 
Eome,  where  he  was  entranced  to  see  the  historic 
spots  of  the  Eternal  City.  Rome  had  for  him  more 
charms  than  Paris.  Crossing  the  Alps,  he  went  to 
Geneva,  and  striking  the  Rhine,  he  proceeded  by 
boat  to  Amsterdam,  thence  to  Brussels,  where  he 
walked  over  the  field  of  Waterloo.  Leaving  his 
family  in  Paris,  he  crossed  to  England  and  made 
a  tour  alone  through  Ireland  and  Scotland. 

As  an  American  senator,  Robert  Toombs  bore, 
letters  of  introduction  to  prominent  people  in 
Europe.  His  reputation  was  international,  his  ac 
quaintance  with  the  diplomatists  of  the  Old  World 
was  extensive,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  history 
and  government  of  the  different  countries  was 
complete.  But  he  did  not  seek  notoriety  in  his 
trip  abroad.  He  presented  none  of  his  letters. 
He  preferred  to  travel  among  the  people,  and  at 
night,  like  Jean  Yaljean,  he  loved  to  see  the  lour- 


THE  "KNOW-NOTHING"    PARTY.  127 

geois  in  their  gardens  and  at  their  ease,  in  order  to 
study  their  habits  and  condition.  He  took  great 
interest  in  the  laborers.  On  one  occasion  he  got 
down  from  his  diligence  to  ask  a  man,  who  was 
drawing  water  from  a  well  to  irrigate  the  land, 
ho\y  much  he  was  paid  for  this  slow  and  cumber 
some  process.  He  was  astonished  to  hear  that  it 
was  but  twelve  cents  a  day. 

Mr.  Toombs  spoke  the  French  language ;  he 
studied  the  people,  and  no  man  was  a  better  judge 
of  human  nature.  He  said  when  he  returned  that 
the  Southern  slave  was  better  treated  and  was  a 
better  laborer  than  most  of  the  peasants  whom  he 
had  seen. 

His  conversation  during  his  European  trip  was 
bright  and  racy.  He  never  fagged  in  body  or 
mind.  He  never  became  a  trifler  or  a  tease.  He 
was  not  a  man  who  cared  for  his  personal  comforts 
or  appetites.  Occasionally  he  would  abuse  the 
hotels  as  being  far  behind  the  American  hostelry. 
Now  and  then  he  would  jest  with  his  guide  or-  in 
dulge  in  bright  raillery  over  the  Italian  peddler 
with  the  inevitable  cigarette.  He  made  it  a  rule 
to  smoke  a  cigar  in  every  country,  to  test  the  to 
bacco,  and  also  to  sample  the  wine  of  every  nation. 
He  drank  but  little  at  that  time,  never  touching 
ardent  spirits  in  any  way.  Good-humor,  good 
health,  and  happiness  followed  him  as  he  made  the 
circuit  of  the  Continent. 


128  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Just  three  months  were  passed  by  him  in  the 
Old  World.  He  arrived  in  New  York  in  Septem 
ber,  1855,  where  telegrams  awaited  him,  summon 
ing  him  to  a  desperate  campaign  in  Georgia. 

The  contest  in  Georgia  that  year  was  sharp. 
The  American  party  elected  several  members  of 
Congress,  but  their  candidate  for  Governor,  Judge 
Andrews,  was  defeated  by  Herschel  V.  Johnson. 
The  latter  was  one  of  the  strongest  Democrats  in 
Georgia.  He  had,  in  1853,  been  elected  Governor 
over  so  able  a  man  as  Charles  J.  Jenkins. 

Mr.  Toombs  plunged  at  once  into  the  canvass 
and  proceeded,  in  his  own  vigorous  way,  to  fight 
the  Know-nothings. 


CHAPTER  XL 

TOOMBS    IN    BOSTON. 

IN  1856,  Mr.  Toombs  visited  Boston,  and  de 
livered  a  lecture  upon  slavery.  It  was  a  bold 
move,  and  many  of  his  friends  advised  against  it. 
They  did  not  see  what  good  would  come  from  the 
appearance  of  an  extreme  Southern  man  in  the 
heart  of  abolitionism,  carrying  his  doctrines  to  the 
very  citadel  of  anlislavery.  Bat  Toombs,  with 
dramatic  determination,  decided  to  accept.  Sev 
eral  Southern  statesmen  had  been  invited  to  ap 
pear  before  Boston  audiences,  but  prudence  had 
kept  them  from  complying. 

On  the  evening  of  the  24th  of  January,  Mr. 
Toombs  ascended  the  stage  at  Tremont  Temple. 
A  large  audience  greeted  him.  There  was  great 
curiosity  to  see  the  Southern  leader.  They  ad 
mired  the  splendid  audacity  of  this  man  in  coming 
to  the  place  where  Garrison  had  inveighed  against 
slavery  and  had  denounced  the  Constitution  as  a 
"  league  with  Hell  and  a  covenant  with  the  Devil " ; 
where  Wendell  Phillips  had  exerted  his  matchless 
oratory,  and  where  Charles  Suniner  had  built  up 
his  reputation  as  an  unflagging  enemy  of  South- 

129 


130  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ern  propagandism.  Mr.  Toombs  was  in  good  trim 
for  this  supreme  effort.  Inspired  by  the  signifi 
cance  of  his  mission,  he  seemed  possessed  of  un 
usual  strength.  His  fine  eye  lighted  with  his 
theme,  and  his  brow  seemed  stamped  with  confi 
dence  rather  than  defiance.  His  long,  black  hair 
was  brushed  from  his  forehead,  and  his  deep 
voice  filled  the  historic  hall.  He  was  indeed  a 
fine  specimen  of  a  man — a  Saul  among  his  fellows. 
Possibly  he  was  moved  by  the  thought  that  he 
stood  where  Webster  had  pleaded  for  the  Union, 
for  concession,  and  for  harmony  six  years  before, 
when  the  people  for  the  first  time  had  turned 
from  him  and  when  Fanueil  Hall  had  been  closed 
against  him. 

Senator  Toombs  was  attended  upon  the  stage 
by  William  and  Nathan  Appleton,  whose  guest 
he  was.  Their  presence  was  a  guarantee  that  the 
speaker  should  receive  a  respectful  hearing.  It 
was  noticed  at  the  outset  that  he  had  abandoned 
his  fervid  style  of  speaking.  ^He  delivered  his 
address  from  notes  in  a  calm  and  deliberate  man 
ner.  He  never  prepared  a  speech  with  so  much 
care.  His  discourse  was  so  logical  and  profound, 
his  bearing  so  dignified  and  impressive,  that  his 
hearers  were  reminded  of  Webster. 

It  was  evident  early  in  the  evening  that  his 
lecture  would  produce  a  powerful  effect.  To 
many  of  his  hearers  his  views  were  novel  and 


TOOMBS  IN  BOSTON.  131 

fresh,  as  they  had  never  heard  the  Southern  side 
of  this  great  question.  « With  the  exception  of 
Sam  Houston,"  said  a  New  York  paper,  "  Mr. 
Toombs  is  the  only  Southern  man  who  has  had 
the  pluck  to  go  into  the  antislavery  camp  and 
talk  aloud  of  the  Constitution.  Other  Southern 
men,  not  afraid  to  face  Boston,  have  been  afraid 
to  face  opinion  at  home." 

In  referring  to  the  clause  of  the  Constitution 
providing  for  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves,  Mr. 
Toombs  was  greeted  by  a  hiss.  The  speaker 
turned  in  the  direction  of  the  noise  and  said,  "  I 
did  not  put  that  clause  there.  I  am  only  giving 
the  history  of  the  action  of  your  own  John 
Adams;  of  your  fathers  and  mine.  You  may 
hiss  them  if  you  choose."  The  effect  was  electri 
cal.  The  hiss  was  drowned  in  a  storm  of  applause. 
The  readiness  and  good-nature  of  the  retort  swept 
Boston  off  her  feet,  and  for  one  moment  prejudice 
was  forgotten. 

The  New  York  Express  declared  that  the 
speaker  was  earnest  and  deliberate,  presenting  his 
argument  with  great  power,  and  his  lecture  of  an 
hour  and  a  half  was,  for  the  most  part,  listened  to 
with  respect  and  attention.  There  was  some  con 
duct  in  the  audience  at  the  close  which  the  Boston 
Journal  was  forced  to  denounce  as  "  ungentle- 
manly."  Three  cheers,  not  unmixed  with  dissent, 
were  given  to  the  distinguished  speaker.  Some- 


132  ROBERT  TOOMBS.. 

one  called  out,  "  When  will  Charles  Sumner  be 
allowed  to  speak  in  the  South  ? " 

The  New  York  Express  declared  that  "  if 
Toonibs  and  other  hotheads  would  lecture  in 
Syracuse,  Oswego,  Ashtabula,  and  other  points  of 
i  Africa,'  they  would  do  a  "good  deal  of  good  in 
educating  the  innocents  and  becoming  themselves 
educated  and  freed  from  fire,  froth,  fury,  and 
folly." 

This  lecture  of  Mr.  Toombs  at  Boston  will  live 
as  the  most  lucid  defense  of  slavery  in  law  and 
in  practice  ever  delivered.  Slavery  has  fallen  and 
mankind  has  made  up  its  verdict ;  but  this  address 
will  still  be  read  with  interest. 

He  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  Congress  had  no 
right  to  limit,  restrain,  or  impair  slavery ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  was  bound  to  protect  it.  At  the  time 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  slavery  was  a 
fact.  The  Declaration  did  not  emancipate  a  single 
slave;  neither  did  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 
The  Constitution  recognized'slavery.  Every  clause 
relative  to  slavery  was  intended  to  strengthen  and 
protect  it.  Congress  had  no  power  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  the  Territories.  The  clause  giving  Con 
gress  power  to  make  regulations  for  the  Territories 
did  not  confer  general  jurisdiction.  It  was  not 
proper  nor  just  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Terri 
tories.  Penning  the  negro  up  in  the  old  States 
would  only  make  him  wretched  and  miserable,  and 


TOOMBS  IN  BOSTON.  133 

would  not  strike  a  single  fetter  from  his  limbs. 
Mr.  Toombs  simply  asked  that  the  common  terri 
tory  be  left  open  to  the  common  enjoyment  of  all 
the  people  of  the  United  States ;  that  they  should 
b^rotected  in  their  persons  and  property  by  the 
general  government,  until  its  authority  be  super 
seded  by  a  State  constitution,  when  the  character 
of  their  democratic  institutions  was  to  be  deter 
mined  by  the  freemen  thereof.  "  This,"  he  said, 
"is  justice.  This  is  constitutional  equity."  Mr. 
Toombs  contended  that  the  compromise  measures 
of  1850  and  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act  of  1854 
were  made  to  conform  to  this  policy.  "  I  trust— I 
believe,"  he  continued,  "that  Avhen  the  transient 
passions  of  the  day  shall  have  subsided,  and  reason 
shall  have  resumed  her  dominion,  it  will  be  ap 
proved,  even  applauded,  by  the  collective  body 
of  the  people." 

Upon  the  second  branch  of  his  theme,  Mr. 
Toombs  contended  that  so  long  as  the  African  and 
Caucasian  races  co-exist  in  the  same  society,  the 
subordination  of  the  African  is  the  normal  and 
proper  condition,  the  one  which  promotes  the 
highest  interests  and  greatest  happiness  of  both 
races.  The  superiority  of  the  white  man  over  the 
black,  he  argued,  was  not  transient  or  artificial. 
The  Crown  had  introduced,  slavery  among  the 
American  colonists.  The  question  was  not  whether 
it  was  just  to  tear  the  African  away  from  bondage 


184  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

in  his  own  country  and  place  him  here.  England 
had  settled  that  for  us.  When  the  colonies  be 
came  free  they  found  seven  hundred  thousand 
slaves  among  them.  Our  fathers  had  to  accept 
the  conditions  and  frame  governments  to  cover  it. 
They  incorporated  no  Utopian  theories  in  their 
system.  They  did  not  so  much  concern  themselves 
about  what  rights  man  might  possibly  have  in  a 
state  of  nature,  as  what  rights  he  ought  to  have  in 
a  state  of  society.  The  <  lecturer  maintained  that 
under  this  system,  the  African  in  the  slaveholding 
States  is  found  in  a  better  position  than  he  has 
ever  attained  in  any  other  age  or  country,  whether 
in  bondage  or  freedom.  The  great  body  of  this 
race  had  been  slaves  in  foreign  lands  and  slaves  in 
their  native  land.  In  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  the 
African  had  always  been  in  a  servile  condition. 
In  Hayti  and  Jamaica  experiments  had  been  tried 
of  freeing  them,  under  the  auspices  of  France  and 
England.  Miseries  had  resulted  and  ruin  over 
whelmed  the  islands.  "Fanaticism  may  palliate, 
but  could  not  conceal  the  utter  prostration  of  the 
race."  The  best  specimens  of  the  race  were  to  be 
found  in  the  Southern  States,  in  closest  contact 
with  slavery.  The  North  does  not  want  the  negro, 
does  not  encourage  his  immigration.  The  great 
fact  of  the  inferiority  of  the  race  is  admitted 
everywhere  in  our  country. 

"  Our  political  system  gives  the  slave  great  and 


TOOMBS  IN  BOSTON.  135 

valuable  rights.  His  life  is  protected ;  his  person 
secured  from  assault  against  all  others  except  his 
master,  and  his  master's  power  in  this  respect  is 
placed  under  salutary  legal  restriction."  He  gets 
a  home,  ample  clothing  and  food,  and  is  exempted 
from  excessive  labor.  When  no  longer  capable  of 
labor,  from  age  or  disease,  he  is  a  legal  charge 
upon  his  master.  The  Southern  slave,  he  said,  is  a 
larger  consumer  of  animal  food  than  any  population 
in  Europe,  and  larger  than  any  laboring  population 
in  the  United  States,  and  their  natural  increase  is 
equal  to  that  of  any  other  people.  Interest  and 
humanity  cooperate  in  harmony  for  the  well-being 
of  slave  labor.  Labor  is  not  deprived  of  its  wages. 
Free  labor  is  paid  in  money,  the  representative  of 
products ;  slave  labor  in  the  products  themselves. 
The  agricultural  and  unskilled  laborers  of  England 
fail  to  earn  the  comforts  of  the  Southern  slave. 
The  compensation  of  labor  in  the  Old  World  has 
been  reduced  to  a  point  scarcely  adequate  to  the 
continuation  of  the  race. 

"  One-half  the  lands  of  the  cotton  States  is  an 
nually  planted  in  food  crops.  This  half  is  con 
sumed  by  the  laborers  and  animals.  The  tenant 
in  the  North  does  not  realize  so  much." 

Mr.  Toombs  believed  that  the  Southern  men 
were  awakening  to  the  conviction  that  the  slave 
should  be  taught  to  read  and  write,  as  being  of 
more  use  to  himself,  his  master,  and  society.  He 


136  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

realized  that  the  laws  should  protect  marriage  and 
other  domestic  ties,  forbidding  the  separation  of 
families,  and  stated  that  some  of  the  slaveholding 
States  had  already  adopted  partial  legislation  for 
the  removal  of  these  evils.  But  the  necessities  of 
life  and  the  roving  spirit  of  the  white  people  pro 
duced  an  infinitely  greater  amount  of  separation  in 
families  than  ever  happened  to  the  colored  race. 
"  The  injustice  and  despotism  of  England  toward 
Ireland  has  produced  more  separation  of  Irish 
families  and  sundered  more  domestic  ties  within 
the  last  ten  years  than  African  slavery  has  effected 
since  its  introduction  into  the  United  States." 
England  keeps  100,000  soldiers,  a  large  navy,  and 
innumerable  police  to  secure  obedience  to  her  social 
institutions,  and  physical  force  is  the  only  guaran 
tee  of  her  social  order,  the  only  cement  of  her 
gigantic  empire.  The  laws  restrain  the  abuses 
and  punish  the  crimes  of  the  slave  system.  Slav 
ery  is  impossible  in  England  and  Europe,  because 
wages  have  gone  down  to  a  point  where  they  are 
barely  sufficient  to  support  the  laborer  and  his 
family.  Capital  could  not  afford  to  own  labor. 
Slavery  ceased  in  England  in  obedience  to  this  law, 
and  not  from  any  regard  to  liberty  and  humanity. 
Senator  Toombs  declared  that  the  condition  of 
the  African  might  not  be  permanent  among  us. 
He  might  find  his  exodus  in  the  unvarying  law  of 
population.  Increase  of  population  may  supply  to 


TOO  MBS  IN  BOSTON.  137 

slavery  its  euthanasia  in  the  general  prostration  of 
all  labor.  The  emancipation  of  the  negro  in  the 
West  Indies  had  not  made  him  a  more  useful  or 
productive  member  of  society.  The  slave  States, 
with  one-half  the  white  population,  and  between 
3,000,000  and  4,000,000  slaves,  furnish  three-fifths 
of  the  annual  product  of  the  republic.  In  this  re 
lation,  the  labor  of  the  country  is  united  with  and 
protected  by  its  capital,  directed  by  the  educated 
and  intelligent. 

Senator  Toombs  combated  the  idea  that  slavery 
debased  and  enervated  the  white  man.  To  the 
Hebrew  race  were  committed  the  orders  of  the 
Most  High.  Slaveholding  priests  ministered  at 
their  altars.  Greece  and  Rome  afforded  the  highest 
forms  of  civilization.  Domestic  slavery  neither 
enfeebles  nor  deteriorates  a  race.  Burke  had  de 
clared  that  the  people  of  the  Southern  colonies  of 
America  w^ere  much  more  strongly,  and  with  a 
higher  and  more  stubborn  spirit,  attached  to  liberty 
that  those  to  the  Northward.  Such  were  our 
Gothic  ancestors ;  such  were  the  Poles ;  such  will 
be  all  masters  of  slaves  who  are  not  slaves  them 
selves.  In  such  a  people  the  haughtiness  of  dom 
ination  combines  itself  with  the  spirit  of  freedom, 
fortifies  it,  and  renders  it  invincible. 

Senator  Toombs  declared  that,  in  the  great 
agitation  which  for  thirty  years  had  shaken 
the  national  government  to  its  foundation  and 


138  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

burst  the  bonds  of  Christian  unity  among  the 
churches,  the  slaveholding  States  have  scarcely 
felt  the  shock.  Stability,  progress,  order,  peace, 
content,  prosperity  reign  through  our  borders. 
Not  a  single  soldier  is  to  be  found  in  our  domain 
to  overawe  or  protect  society.  Mr.  Toombs  pic 
tured  the  progress  of  the  Southern  churches, 
schools  and  colleges  multiplying.  None  of  these 
improvements  had  been  aided  by  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment.  "  We  have  neither  sought  from  it  pro 
tection  for  our  private  interests  nor  appropriations 
for  our  public  improvements.  They  have  been 
effected  by  the  unaided  individual  efforts  of  an  en 
lightened,  moral,  and  energetic  people.  Such  is 
our  social  system  and  such  our  condition  under  it. 
We  submit  it  to  the  judgment  of  mankind,  with 
the  firm  conviction  that  the  adoption  of  no  other, 
under  such  circumstances,  would  have  exhibited 
the  individual  man,  bond  or  free,  in  a  higher  de 
velopment  or  society  in  a  happier  civilization." 

Mr.  Toombs  carried  his  principles  into  practice. 
He  owned  and  operated  several  large  plantations  in 
Georgia,  and  managed  others  as  agent  or  executor. 
He  had  the  care  of,  possibly,  a  thousand  slaves. 
His  old  family  servants  idolized  him.  Freedom 
did  not  alter  the  tender  bond  of  affection.  They 
clung  to  him,  and  many  of  them  remained  with 
him  and  ministered  to  his  family  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  The  old  plantation  negroes  never  failed  to 


TOOMBS  IN  BOSTON.  139 

receive  his  bounty  or  good  will.  During  the  sale 
of  a  plantation  of  an  insolvent  estate  Mr.  Toombs, 
who  was  executor,  wrote  to  his  wife,  "  The  slaves 
sold  well.  There  were  few  instances  of  the  sepa 
ration  of  families."  He  looked  after  the  welfare  of 
all  his  dependents.  While  he  was  in  the  army,  his 
faithful  servants  took  care  of  his  wife  and  little 
grandchildren,  and  during  his  long  exile  from  his 
native  land  they  looked  after  his  interests  and 
watched  for  his  return. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

THE  great  contest  of  1856  was  coming  on.  A 
President  was  to  be  chosen.  The  relations  of  the 
sections  were  more  strained  every  day.  The  elec 
tions  of  1854  had  emboldened  the  antislavery 
men  to  form  the  Republican  party,  and  to  put 
out,  as  their  candidate,  John  C.  Fremont,  "pio 
neer  and  pathfinder,"  who  had  saved  California 
to  the  Union.  Fremont  was  not  a  statesman,  but 
a  hero  of  the  kind  who  dazzled  men,  and  was 
thought  to  be  especially  available  as  a  presiden 
tial  candidate.  "Free  soil,  Free  men,  Fremont" 
was  the  cry,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  Aboli 
tionists  had  swept  all  the  wavering  Whigs  into 
their  lines  and  would  make  a  determined  fight. 
The  American  party  nominated  Millard  Fillmore, 
and  the  Democracy,  with  a  wealth  of  material 
and  a  non-sectional  following,  wheeled  into  line. 
President  Pierce  was  willing  to  succeed  himself. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  had  rushed  into  the 
convention  of  1852  with  such  reckless  dash  to  put 
aside  "  the  old  fogies  "  of  the  party,  was  an  avowed 
candidate.  His  championship  of  the  Kansas-Ne- 

140 


BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  141 

braska  bill  liad  made  him  a  favorite  in  the  South, 
although  it  injured  his  chances  at  the  North.  It 
is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  Douglas,  whose 
candidacy  had  the  effect  of  setting  aside  Buchanan 
for  Pierce  in  1852,  should  afterward  have  been 
the  means  of  turning  down  Pierce  for  Buchanan. 

James  Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania  had  just  re 
turned  from  London,  where  he  had  served  with 
dignity  as  American  Minister.  Free  from  recent 
animosities,  he  entered  the  field,  fresh  and  full  of 
prestige.  He  was  nominated  for  President  on  the 
fifth  day  of  the  Democratic  Convention,  Georgia 
casting  her  vote  for  him.  The  Cincinnati  plat 
form  adopted  this  plank: 

"Resolved:  That  we  recognize  the  right  of  the 
people  of  the  Territories,  including  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  acting  through  the  legally  and  fairly 
expressed  will  of  a  majority  of  the  actual  resi 
dents,  and  whenever  the  number  of  their  inhabi 
tants  justifies  it,  to  form  a  Constitution,  either 
with  or  without  domestic  slavery,  and  to  be  ad 
mitted  into  the  Union  upon  terms  of  perfect  equal 
ity  with  all  the  other  States." 

Among  the  causes  contributing  to  the  current 
bitterness  was  the  assault  made  upon  Charles 
Sumner,  senator  from  Massachusetts,  by  Preston 
S.  Brooks,  a  representative  from  South  Carolina. 
This  happened  in  May,  1856,  while  Mr.  Sumner 
was  sitting  at  his  desk,  after  the  Senate  had  ad- 


142  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

journed.  Mr.  Brooks  took  exception  to  some 
remarks  printed  in  Mr.  Sumner's  speech,  entitled 
"  The  Crime  against  Kansas."  In  this  speech,  the 
senator  had  referred,  in  rather  caustic  terms,  to 
Senator  Butler  of  South  Carolina.  The  latter 
was  a  kinsman  of  Mr.  Brooks.  The  weapon  used 
by  Mr.  Brooks  was  a  gutta-percha  cane,  and  Sena 
tor  Sumner,  who  was  a  large,  powerful  man,  in  his 
effort  to  rise  from  his  seat,  forced  his  desk  f rorn  its 
hinges  and  fell  heavily  to  the  floor.  The  assault 
created  an  immense  sensation.  It  was  associated 
in  the  heated  minds  at  the  North  with  the  "  slav 
ery  aggressions  of  the  South."  At  the  South,  it 
was  generally  excused  as  the  resentment  of  an 
impetuous  young  man  to  an  insult  offered  an 
elderly  kinsman.  Northern  men  denounced  the 
assault  in  unmeasured  terms  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  and  Senate.  The  affair  led  to  several  chal 
lenges  between  the  representatives  of  both  sec 
tions.  Congressman  Brooks  resigned  his  seat,  but 
was  immediately  reflected. 

When  Senator  Suniner  made  his  statement  of 
the  attack,  he  said  that,  after  he  was  taken  from 
the  floor,  he  saw  his  assailant  standing  between 
Senator  Douglas  and  Senator  Toombs.  This  led 
to  the  assertion  by  some  parties  that  the  attack 
was  premeditated,  and  that  the  senator  from 
Illinois  and  the  senator  from  Georgia,  who  were 
strong  political  antagonists  of  Mr.  Sumner,  were 


BUCHANAN'S  ADMINISTRATION.  143 

aiding  and  abetting  it.  Both  senators  denied  this 
from  their  places. 

The  political  activity  was  not  confined  to  the 
North.  There  was  a  large  element  in  Georgia 
which  disapproved  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  as 
an  unwise  concession  on  the  part  of  the  South. 
This  class,  combined  with  the  American  party, 
presented  an  active  front  against  the  party  led  by 
Senator  Toombs.  No  contest  was  ever  waged 
more  vigorously  in  Georgia.  New  blood  and  new 
issues  were  infused  into  the  fight.  Mr.  Toombs 
was  at  the  maximum  of  his  greatness.  He  took 
redoubled  interest  in  the  campaign  in  that  the 
legislature  to  be  chosen  in  1857  was  to  elect  his 

o 

successor  to  the  Senate,  and  because  the  principles 
in  this  national  contest  were  taking  shape  for  a 
State  campaign  the  following  year. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

"ON  THE  STUMP"  IN  GEORGIA. 

AMONG  the  young  men  on  the  stump  that  year 
was  Benjamin  H.  Hill.  He  had  come  up  from 
the  plow-handles  in  Jasper  County.  Working  his 
way  to  an  education,  he  had  graduated  at  the 
State  University  in  1845,  with  the  first  honors  of 
his  class.  He  Avas  at  this  time  barely  more  than 
thirty  years  of  age,  but  lie  had  won  distinction  at 
the  bar  and  served  his  county  in  the  State  Senate. 
He  was  known  for  his  aggressive,  ringing  elo 
quence,  and  a  clear,  searching  style  which  had 
made  him  something  more  than  local  reputation. 
It  was  understood  that  he  was  the  choice  of  the 
American  party  for  Governor,  and  it  was  assumed 
that  he  would  win  his  spurs  in  the  national  cam-' 
paign.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  go  into  the  thick 
est  of  the  fight.  He  challenged  Toombs  and 
Stephens  in  their  strongholds;  on  the  22d  of  Octo 
ber  meeting  Mr.  Stephens  at  his  stamping-ground 
in  Lexington,  Oglethorpe  County,  and  the  next 
day  confronting  Mr.  Toombs  at  his  home  in  Wash 
ington,  Ga.  There  was  a  charm  in  the  very 
audacity  of  this  young  Georgian.  The  man  who 

144 


"  ON  THE  STUMP"  IN   GEORGIA.  145 

would  beard  "  the  Douglas  in  his  hall "  was  a  curi 
osity  to  the  people,  for  since  the  leadership  of 
Tooinbs  was  established  in  1844,  no  one,  probably, 
had  assumed  to  cross  swords  with  him  before  his 
home  people.  The  fact  that  young  Hill  had 
rather  frustrated  Mr.  Stephens,  in  their  first  meet 
ing,  gave  him  fresh  impetus  for  his  clash  with 
Tooinbs.  People  flocked  to  Washington  by  thou 
sands.  A  large  part  of  the  audience  which  had 
cheered  Ben  Hill  in  Oglethorpe  followed  him  to 
Wilkes. 

The  speaking  took  place  in  Andrews'  Grove,  a 
noble  cluster  of  oaks  near  the  town,  and  by  break 
fast-time  the  place  was  filled  with  carriages  and 
wagons.  The  red  hills  leading  to  Washington 
were  alive  with  farmers  and  their  wives  and 
children,  wheeling  into  the  grove  to  hear  the  noble 
veteran  and  the  brilliant  young  stranger  debate 
upon  current  topics.  Old  and  young  men  were 
there,  and  babies  in  arms.  It  was  before  the  days 
of  a  universal  press.  People  took  their  politics 
from  the  stump.  They  were  trained  in  the  great 
object-lessons  of  public  life.  The  humble  farmer 
knew  all  about  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the 
Nebraska  bill.  What  they  had  learned  was 
thorough.  Every  man  was  a  politician. 

Ben  Hill  opened  the  discussion.  He  had  the 
advantage  of  being  a  new  and  untried  man,  while 
Toombs  and  Stephens  had  spread  their  records 


146  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

upon  the  pages  of  hundreds  of  speeches.  In  those 
days  of  compromises  and  new  departures,  it  was 
easy  for  a  quick,  bright  fellow  to  make  capital 
out  of  the  apparent  inconsistencies  of  public  men. 
Hill  was  a  master  of  repartee.  He  pictured 
Toonibs'  change  from  Whig  to  Democrat.  He 
made  a  daring  onslaught  upon  Toombs.  Hill's 
bump  of  reverence  was  not  large,  and  the  way  he 
handled  this  great  statesman  was  a  surprise.  He 
did  not  hesitate  to  call  him  "  Bobuel,"  and  to  try 
to  convict  him  out  of  his  own  mouth  of  error. 

Toombs  sat  back  with  his  fine  features  lit  with 
scorn.  His  facial  expression  was  a  rare  part  of 
his  strength.  He  seemed  to  repel  with  his  look 
the  impudence  of  this  fearless  young  statesman. 
Hill  saw  the  effect  of  his  own  audacity,  and  "  plied 
his  blows  like  wintry  rain."  A  keen  observer  of 
this  dramatic  by-play  declares  that  the  pose  of 
these  two  men  reminded  him  of  Land  seer's  picture 
of  "  Dignity  and  Impudence." 

Hill  declared  that  Toonibs  had  been  in  Con 
gress,  "  sleeping  over  our  rights."  Toornbs  retorted, 
"I  have  been  protecting  your  rights  and  your 
children's  rights  in  spite  of  yourselves."  , 

Hill  charged  that  Toombs  had  tried  to  dodge 
the  issues  of  this  campaign.  Toombs,  when  he 
answered  this  part,  cried  out  to  the  people  im 
petuously  :  "  Did  I  dodge  the  question,  when  in 
the  presence  of  two  thousand  people,  in  the  City 


"  ON  THE  STUMP"  IN  GEORGIA.  147 

of  Augusta,  and  as  I  was  about  to  travel  in  foreign 
lands,  I  denounced  the  secret  midnight  organiza 
tion  which  was  being  fastened  upon  the  free 
men  of  the  South  ?  An  organization  whose  chief 
measure  was  to  prescribe  a  religious  test  in  this 
land  of  liberty,  and  raise  up  a  barrier  to  the  en 
trance  of  the  sons  of  the  Old  World,  whose  gallant 
sires  aided  us  in  achieving  our  independence  ? 

"  Did  I  dodge,  when,  just  before  putting  my 
foot  on  shipboard,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  my  beloved 
South,  warning  them  against  this  insidious  organi 
zation  creeping  into  their  midst,  piloted  by  dark 
lanterns  to  midnight  lodges  ?  Did  I  dodge,  when, 
hearing,  as  I  traveled,  that  this  deadly  order  had 
taken  hold  and  fastened  its  fangs  in  my  State,  I 
suspended  my  travels  and  took  the  first  ship  that 
bore  me  back  to  my  native  shores,  and,  raised  my 
cry  against  these  revolutionary  measures  ? 

"Did  I  dodge,  when,  as  soon  as  landing  in 
Georgia,  I  traveled  all  night  and  spoke  all  next 
day  against  these  blighting  measures  ?  If  this  be 
called^  dodging,  I  admit  that  I  dodged,  and  the 
gentleman  can  make  the  most  of  it." 

'  Mr.  Hill  declared  that  the  Kansas-lTebraska  bill 
embodied, the  principles  of  "  squatter  sovereignty" 
and  alien  suffrage.  The  bill  was  not  identical  with 
the  Utah  and  New  Mexico  bill,  as  Toombs  and 

Stephens  had  alleged.  The  restrictive  provisions 
of  the  Utah  bill  would  prohibit  this  Territorial 


148  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Legislature  from  excluding  slavery.  It  could  not 
do  that  until  it  became  a  State,  while  the  Kansas 
bill  allowed  a  majority  of  the  actual  residents  to 
determine  whether  slavery  should  or  should  not 
exist,  even  prior  to  its  admission  as  a  State.  He 
denounced  the  Kansas  bill  as  a  cheat,  a  s  windle, 
and  a  surrender  of  our  dearest  rights.  As  to  the 
National  Convention,  Mr.  Hill  declared  that  the 
South  may  have  framed  the  platform,  but  the 
North  secured  the  candidate. '  Mr.  Hill,  relative  to 
territorial  questions,  recognized  the  right  of  native 
born  and  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
permanently  residing  in  any  Territory,  to  frame  a 
constitution  and  laws  and  to  regulate  their  social 
and  domestic  affairs  in  their  own  way.  The 
American  party  proposed  to  extend  the  term  re 
quired  for  naturalization  and  to  bar  the  foreigners 
from  holding  office.  Mr.  Hill  had  strong  sympa 
thizers  in  the  extreme  Southern  Bights'  men,  who 
were  on  hand  in  abundance. 

Mr.  Toombs  replied  with  great  dignity  and 
warmth.  He  said  that  the  Nebraska  bi]l  was  a 
reiteration  of  the  true  intent  of  the  compromise 
measures  of  1850  ;  that  whoever  opposed  the  Kan 
sas  bill  was  opposed  to  the  South.  It  was  a  touch 
stone  for  fixing  party  affiliations.  It  only  carried 
out  the  Georgia  platform  protesting  against  Con 
gressional  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  Territories. 
He  paid  high  tribute  to  Douglas  as  a  patriot 


"  ON  TBE  STUMP"  IN  GEOHGTA.  140 

and  friend  to  the  South.  «  Whoever  condemned 
Douglas  needed  watching  himself."  Mr.  Toombs 
charged  that  the  representatives  of  the  Know-noth 
ing  party  had  voted  for  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
and  now  claimed  ignorance  of  its  provisions.  He 
denied  that  either  he  or  Mr.  Stephens  had  declared 
that  the  Kansas  bill  w^as  identical  with  the  Utah 
bill.  Mr.  Hill  insisted  that  they  had  said  so.  Af 
firmance  and  denial  became  heated,  and  talk  of 
holding  each  other  "  personally  responsible  "  was 
indulged  in,  but  pretty  soon  the  debate  went  back 
into  the  political  grooves.  Mr.  Toombs  denied 
that  the  bill  was  a  "  Pandora's  box  of  evil,"  or  that 
its  passage  was  violative  of  the  good  faith  of  the 
South.  This  part  of  his  argument,  of  course,  was 
directed  to  meet  Northern  criticism.  "  The  North," 
Mr.  Toombs  said,  "  had  tried,  by  the  "Wilmot  Pro 
viso,  to  legislate  the  South  out  of  the  right  of  equal 
enjoyment  of  the  Territories.  The  South  had  en 
deavored  to  take  the  question  of  these  rights  out 
of  Congress,  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  non-inter 
vention."  This  doctrine  triumphed  in  1850  and, 
despite  the  assertion  of  his  opponent,  was  reaffirmed 
in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act.  This  Act  of  1854 
was  the  great  measure  of  justice  and  equality  to  the 
South. 

Mr.  Toombs  ridiculed  the  assertion  of  Millard 
Fillmore  that  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise  was  a  violation  of  a  sacred  compact.  "  Fill- 


150  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

more,"  said  Mr.  Toombs,  "is  an  amiable,  clever 
sort  of  fellow,  not  to  be  trusted  upon  the  great 
questions  now  before  the  country.  He  had  with 
held  action  upon  the  compromise  measures  of 
1850  until  his  attorney-general  told  him  that  he 
must  sign  them." 

Someone  reminded  Toombs  that  he  had  sup 
ported  FUlmore  for  vice  president  in  1848.  He 
replied,  "Yes,  and  I  said  then,  that  if  Fillmore 
was  at  the  head  of  the  ticket,  I  would  not  support 
it."  Several  persons  in  the  audience  declared  that 
they  had  heard  him  say  it.  "  I  am  glad  to  know," 
said  he,  "  that,  since  my  opponents  address  you 
people  as  if  you  had  no  sense,  you,  at  least,  have 
shown  that  you  have  memories." 

Turning  to  the  crowd  who  had  cheered  the 
opposition  speaker,  Mr.  Toombs  said  :  "  For  those 
of  you  who  have  yelled  so  long  and  lustily,  when 
your  dearest  rights  were  assailed,  I  can  but  feel 
the  profoundest  commiseration.  Should  you  con 
tinue  in  your  wild  strife  against  the  experience  of 
the  past,  I  look  to  a  kind  Providence  and  to  wise 
men  to  protect  you  from  yourselves." 

In  regard  to  aliens  in  America,  Mr.  Toombs 
said :  "  I  go  for  giving  them  all — the  oppressed  of 
all  nations — a  place  of  refuge,  and  say  even  to  the 
paupers  and  criminals ;  '  We  will  forgive  you  for 
the  past  and  try  you  for  the  future.7  You  may 
start  in  your  railroad  and  go  to  Memphis,  and  then, 


"  ON  THE  STUMP"  IN  GEORGIA.  151 

follow  the  setting  sun  day  by  day,  and  week  by 
week,  until  you  find  him  setting  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  all  the  time  you  are  passing  over  fertile 
lands  where  industry  and  thrift  may  meet  appro 
priate  rewards,  and  the  blessings  of  liberty  and 
peace  find  a  resting-place  in  the  bosom  of  free 
dom." 

Mr.  Hill  said  that  Toombs  was  a  turncoat.  He 
had  been  a  Whig,  and  now  he  abused  the  Whigs. 
Mr.  Toombs  told  the  people  that  he  came  not  to 
abuse  the  Democrats  or  Whigs,  but  with  the 
weapon  of  truth  and  the  shield  of  the  Constitution 
to  aid  in  preserving  the  Union  and  maintaining  the 
rights  of  the  South.  He  did  not  appear  before 
the  people  to  carry  majorities,  but  to  promote  their 
constitutional  rights. 

Mr.  Toombs  was  charged  with  being  a  disunion- 
ist.  He  said  he  stood  upon  the  Georgia  platform 
of  1850,  and  leaning  upon  that  faithful  support, 
"  I  will  say,  that  should  Fremont  be  elected,  I  will 
not  stand  and  wait  for  fire,  but  will  call  upon  my 
countrymen  to  take  to  that  to  which  they  will  be 
driven — the  sword.  If  that  be  disunion,  I  am  a 
disunionist.  If  that  be  treason,  make  the  most  of 
it.  You  see  the  traitor  before  you." 

Opinion  as  to  the  result  of  the  debate  at  Wash 
ington  was  divided.  Good  judges  thought  that 
Mr.  Hill  relied  too  much  on  the  ad  captandum 
argument,  and  did  not  meet  the  points  of  Mr. 


152  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Toombs  ;  but  there  are  men  living  in  Washington 
who  heard  the  great  contest  and  who  delight  to 
tell  how  the  young  w^arrior  from  Troup  charged 
right  into  the  enemy's  camp,  and  rode  away  with 
the  laurels  of  the  day. 

Buchanan  was  elected  President  in  November. 
He  carried  nineteen  States,  Georgia  among  them. 
Buchanan  and  Breckenridge  received  174  electoral 
votes  and  1,838,169  popular  votes. 

Fremont  carried  eleven  States  and  114  electoral 
votes,  receiving  1,341,264  popular  votes.  Fillmore 
carried  Maryland  with  8  electoral  votes.  His  vote 
through  the  country  amounted  to  874,534. 

Mr.  Toombs,  while  a  member  of  Congress,  be 
came  possessed  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Texas. 
It  was  known  as  the  Peter's  Colony  Grant,  which 
had  never  been  settled.  The  lands,  he  was  in 
formed  by  a  competent  surveyor,  were  valuable 
and  free  to  settlers.  They  comprised  about  90,000 
acres  in  Northern  Texas,  on  the  clear  fork  of  the 
Trinity,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dallas  and  Fort 
Worth.  Mr.  Toombs  had  a  clear  head  and  keen 
perception  for  business.  His  temperament  was 
restless  and  fiery.  His  life  had  been  spent  at  the 
bar  and  in  the  forum.  His  gifts  of  oratory  were 
remarkable.  It  was  a  strange  combination  which 
added  shrewd  business  sense,  but  he  had  it  in  an 
eminent  degree.  He  was  a  princely  liver,  but  a 
careful  financier.  He  saw  that  this  part  of  Texas 


"  ON  THE  STUMP"  IN  GEORGIA.  153 

must  some  day  bloom  into  an  empire,  and  fifty 
years  ago  he  gave  $30,000  for  this  tract  of  land. 
As  Texas  commenced  to  fill  up  the  squatters  oc 
cupied  some  of  the  most  valuable  parts  of  the 
country  and  refused  to  be  removed.  These  desper 
ate  fellows  declared  that  they  did 'not  believe  there 
was  any  such  man  as  Toombs,  the  reputed  owner 
of  the  land  ;  they  had  never  seen  him,  and  certainly 
they  would  not  consent  to  be  dispossessed  of  their 
holdings. 

It  was  in  1857  that  Senator  Toombs,  accom 
panied  by  a  few  of  his  friends,  decided  to  make  a 
trip  to  Texas  and  view  his  large  landed  posses 
sions.  For  hundreds  of  miles  he  traveled  on  horse 
back  over  the  plains  of  Texas,  sleeping  at  night 
in  a  buffalo  robe.  He  was  warned  by  his  agents 
that  he  had  a  very  desperate  set  of  men  to  deal 
with.  But  Toombs  was  pretty  determined  him 
self.  He  summoned  the  squatters  to  a  parley  at 
Fort  Worth,  then  a  mere  spot  in  the  wilderness. 
The  men  came  in  squads,  mounted  on  their  mus 
tangs,  and  bearing  over  their  saddles  long  squirrel 
rifles.  They  were  ready  for  a  shrewd  bargain  or 
a  sharp  vendetta.  Senator  Toombs  and  his  small 
coterie  were  armed ;  and  standing  against  a  tree, 
the  landlord  confronted  his  tenants  or  trespassers, 
he  hardly  knew  which.  He  spoke  firmly  and 
pointedly,  and  pretty  soon  convinced  the  settlers 
that  they  were  dealing  with  no  ordinary  man.  He 


154  ROBEHT  TOOMBS. 

said  he  was  willing  to  allow  each  squatter  a  cer 
tain  sum  for  betterments,  if  they  would  move  off 
his  land,  or,  if  they  preferred  to  stay,  he  would 
sell  the  tract  to  each  man  at  wild-land  prices ;  but, 
failing  in  this,  they  must  move  away,  as  he  had 
the  power  to  put  them  out,  and  would  certainly 
use  it.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  murmuring  and 
caucussing  among  the  men,  but  they  concluded 
that  there  was  a  man  named  Toombs,  and  that  he 
meant  what  he  said.  The  matter  was  settled  in  a 
business  way,  and  Senator  Toombs  rode  back  over 
the  prairies,  richer  by  a  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
These  lands  were  immensely  valuable  during  the 
latter  part  of  his  life.  They  formed  the  bulk  of 
his  fortune  when  the  war  closed ;  and  during  his 
stay  in  Paris,  an  exile  from  his  country,  in  1866, 
he  used  to  say  that  he  consumed,  in  his  personal 
expenses,  an  acre  of  dirt  a  day.  The  land  was 
then  worth  about  five  dollars  an  acre. 

It  was  while  he  was  returning  home  from  his 
Texas  trip  that  the  postman  met  him  on  the 
plains  and  delivered  a  letter  from  Georgia.  This 
was  in  July,  1857.  The  letter  announced  that 
the  Democratic  State  Convention  in  Georgia  had 
adjourned,  after  nominating  for  Governor  Joseph 
E.  Brown.  Senator  Toombs  read  the  letter  and, 
looking  up  in  a  dazed  way,  asked,  "  And  who  in 
the  devil  is  Joe  Brown  ? " 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE    CAMPAIGN    OF    1856. 

THERE  was  a  good  deal  of  significance  in  the 
inquiry.  There  was  a  hot  campaign  ahead.  The 
opposition  party,  made  up  of  Know-nothings  and 
old-line  Whigs,  had  nominated  Benjamin  H.  Hill 
for  Governor.  Senator  Toombs  knew  that  it 
would  require  a  strong  man  to  beat  him.  Besides 
the  Governor,  a  legislature  was  to  be  chosen 
which  was  to  elect  a  successor  to  Senator  Toombs 
in  the  Senate.  He  was  personally  interested  in 
seeing  that  the  Democratic  party,  with  which  he 
had  been  in  full  accord  since  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  had  a  strong  leader  in  the 
State.  All  the  way  home  he  was  puzzling  in  his 
brain  about  "  Joe  Brown." 

About  the  time  that  he  returned,  he  was  in 
formed  that  Hill  and  Brown  had  met  at  Glen 
Spring,  near  Athens.  A  large  crowd  had  at 
tended  the  opening  discussion.  Howell  Cobb 
wrote  to  Senator  Toombs  that  he  had  better  take 
charge  of  the  campaign  himself,  as  he  doubted 
the  ability  of  Judge  Brown  to  handle  "Hill  of 
Troup." 

155 


156  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Joseph  E.  Brown  had  come  up  from  the  people. 
He  was  a  native  of  Pickens,  S.  C.,  of  old  Scotch- 
Irish  stock  that  had  produced  Calhoun  and 
Andrew  Jackson.  The  late  Henry  W.  Grady,  in 
a  bright  fancy  sketch,  once  declared  that  the 
ancestors  of  Joseph  E.  Brown  lived  in  Ireland, 
and  that  "For  seven  generations,  the  ancestors  of 
Joe  Brown  have  been  restless,  aggressive  rebels — 
for  a  longer  time  the  Toombses  have  been  daunt 
less  and  intolerant  followers  of  the  King.  At 
the  siege  of  Londonderry,  Margaret  and  James 
Brown  were  within  the  walls,  starving  and  fight 
ing  for  William  and  Mary ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
there  were  hard-riding  Toombses  outside  the  walls, 
charging  in  the  name  of  the  peevish  and  unhappy 
James.  Certain  it  is  that  forty  years  before,  the 
direct  ancestors  of  Robert  Toombs,  in  their  estate, 
were  hiding  the  good  King  Charles  in  the  oak  at 
Boscobel,  where,  I  have  no  doubt,  the  father  and 
uncle  of  the  Londonderry  Brown,  with  cropped  hair 
and  severe  mien,  were  proguing  about  the  place 
with  their  pikes,  searching  every  bush  in  the 
name  of  Cromwell  and  the  psalm-singers.  From 
these  initial  points  sprang  the  two  strains  of 
blood — the  one  affluent,  impetuous,  prodigal,  the 
other  slow,  resolute,  forceful.  From  these  ances 
tors  came  the  two  men — the  one  superb,  ruddy, 
fashioned  with  incomparable  grace  and  fullness— 
the. other  pale,  thoughtful,  angular,  stripped  down 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856.  157 

to  brain  and  sinew.  From  these  opposing  theories 
came  the  two  types :  the  one  patrician,  imperious, 
swift  in  action,  and  brooking  no  stay ;  the  other 
democratic,  sagacious,  jealous  of  rights,  and  sub 
mitting  to  no  opposition.  The  one  for  the  king, 
the  other  for  the  people." 

Young  Joe  Brown  had  taught  school,  studied 
law,  finally  completing  his  course  at  Yale  College. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1845.  In  1849  he 
was  elected  as  a  Democrat  to  the  State  Senate  by 
Cherokee  County.  In  1851  he  had  been  a  South 
ern  Eights'  man,  voting  for  McDonald  against 
Cobb,  the  Union  candidate  for  Governor.  In 
1852  he  was  Democratic  elector  for  Pierce.  In 
1855  he  was  elected  by  the  people  judge  of  the 
Blue  Eidge.  Circuit.  He  was  very  strong  in 
North  Georgia.  The  convention  which  selected 
him  as  the  candidate  for  Governor  met  in  Mill- 
edgeville,  June  24,  1857.  The  Democrats  had 
no  lack  of  eminent  men.  There  were  candidates 
enough.  James  Gardner,  the  brilliant  and  in 
cisive  editor  of  the  Augusta  Constitutionalist,  led 
the  ballot,  but  Brown  was  finally  brought  in  as  a 
compromise  man.  His  nomination  was  a  surprise. 

When  Senator  Toombs  met  the  young  nominee, 
by  appointment,  to  talk  over  the  campaign,  he 
found  that  he  was  full  of  good  sense  and  sagacity. 
He  joined  him  in  his  canvass,  lending  his  own 
name  and  prestige  to  the  Democratic  meetings. 


158  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

But  lie  found  much  shrewdness  and  homely  wis 
dom  about  Joseph  E.  Brown,  and  he  became  con 
vinced  that  he  was  able  to  make  his  way  to  the 
favor  of  the  people  without  outside  aid.  The 
Democratic  nominee  proved  his  ability  to  stand 
before  the  luminous  oratory  of  Ben  Hill  himself. 
Brown  had  courage,  clearness,  and  tact,  with  grow 
ing  ability  and  confidence.  He  soon  developed 
the  full  strength  of  the  Democratic  party,  which, 
in  Georgia,  was  overwhelming.  Joseph  E.  Brown 
was  elected  Governor,  and  the  last  vestige  of  the 
American  party  went  down  in  1857.  The  legis 
lature  was  overwhelmingly  Democratic. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  1857,  Mr.  Toombs 
wrote  from  Milledgeville  to  his  wife,  pending  the 
election  of  United  States  Senator : 

I  got  here  Wednesday  and  found  the  usual  turmoil 
and  excitement.  Governor  McDonald  is  here  and  has 
been  trying  hard  to  beat  me,  but  I  find  very  unexpected 
and  gratifying  unanimity  in  my  favor.  The  party  met 
this  evening  and  nominated  me  by  acclamation,  with  but 
two  or  three  dissenting  votes,  and  they  speak  of  bringing 
on  the  election  to-morrow.  I  am  very  anxious  to  see  you, 
and  am  tired  of  wandering  about  in  excited  crowds  ;  but  I 
suppose  after  to-morrow  I  will  have  peace,  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  for  the  next  six  years.  I  think  I  shall  be  en 
titled  to  exemption  from  the  actual  duties  of  future  cam 
paigns  to  stay  at  home  with  you. 

He  was  reflected  to  the  United  States  Senate 
for  the  term  beginning  March  4?  1857, 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856.  159 

When  President  Buchanan  was  inaugurated,  he 
announced  that  a  case  was  pending  in  the  Supreme 
Court  upon  the  occupation  of  the  Territories.  By 
this  decision  he  would  abide.  The  day  after  the 
inauguration  the  decision  was  announced.  It  was 
the  celebrated  Dred  Scott  case.  It  fell  like  a 
bomb  into  the  antislavery  camp.  The  great  ques 
tion  involved  was  whether  it  was  competent  for 
Congress,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  exclude  slavery 
from  the  Territories  of  the  United  States.  The 
Supreme  Court  decided  that  it  was  not.  Six 
judges  out  of  eight  made  this  decision.  The 
opinion  was  delivered  by  Chief  Justice  Roger  B. 
Taney. 

This  decision  added  to  the  fury  of  the  storm. 
It  was  announced  that  the  Chief  Justice  had  an 
nounced  the  doctrine  that  "  negroes  had  no  rights 

o  O 

that  a  white  man  was  bound  to  respect " ;  a  senti 
ment  so  atrocious  that  this  official  repelled  it  with 
indignation.  Efforts  were  made  to  bury  the  Chief 
Justice  in  obloquy. 

The  struggle  over  the  admission  of  Kansas  into 
the  Union  was  prolonged  in  Congress.  But  the 
situation  in  Kansas  became  warmer  every  year. 
The  Eastern  immigrant  societies  were  met  by  in 
roads  of  Missouri  and  Southern  settlers.  A  state 
of  civil  war  virtually  obtained  in  1856-57,  and 
throughout  Buchanan's  administration  there  was 
a  sharp  skirmish  of  new  settlers  and  a  sharp 


160  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

maneuver  of  parties  for  position.  The  Georgia 
State  Democratic  Convention  of  1857  demanded 
the  removal  of  Robert  J.  Walker,  who  had  been 
appointed  Governor  of  Kansas.  He  was  a  Southern 
man,  but  was  regarded  as  favoring  the  antislavery 
party  in  its  efforts  to  organize  the  Territory.  The 
truth  was,  as  Senator  Toonibs  had  clearly  foreseen 
and  expressed  in  his  speech  in  the  Senate  in  1856, 
Kansas  was  destined  to  be  a  free  State,  and  amid 
the  violence  of  the  agitation,  confined  to  no  one 
side,  was  marching  steadily  toward  this  destiny. 
The  administration  favored  the  admission  of  Kansas 
with  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  which  was 
decidedly  favorable  to  the  proslavery  men.  Sen 
ator  Douglas  opposed  this  plan.  He  had  become 
committed  to  the  policy  of  squatter  sovereignty 
during  the  debate  on  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  in 
1854.  He  contended  that  the  settlers  of  a  Terri 
tory  could  determine  the  character  of  their  institu 
tions,  a  position  which  the  Buchanan  party  de 
nounced  as  inconsistent  with  Democratic  principles. 
Mr.  Douglas  indorsed  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
but  maintained  his  position  on  popular  sovereignty. 
He  became  at  once  unpopular  with  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  Southern  Democracy,  with  whom  he 
had  long  been  a  favorite.  He  was  also  estranged 
from  the  administration,  and  it  was  evident  that 
he  would  have  no  easy  matter  to  be  reflected 
United  States  Senator.  This  election  came  off  in 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856.  161 

the  fall  of  1858.  It  was  clear  to  him  that,  to 
maintain  his  prominence  in  politics,  he  must  cany 
Illinois.  Unless  he  could  save  his  own  State  his 
chance  for  President  was  gone.  So  he  went  into 
this  memorable  canvass  with  his  own  party  divided 
and  a  determined  opponent  in  the  person  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln.  The  young  Republican  party  in 
Illinois  had  been  gathering  strength  with  each 
new  phase  of  the  slavery  question. 

The  joint  debate  between  Douglas  and  Lincoln 
was  memorable.  As  a  dexterous  debater,  Douglas 
had  no  equal  in  the  Union.  He  was  strong  on  the 
stump  and  incomparable  in  a  popular  assembly. 
Without  grace  or  imagination,  he  was  yet  a  plausi 
ble,  versatile  man,  quick  and  ingenious,  resolute 
and  ready,  with  a  rare  faculty  for  convincing  men. 
He  was  small  and  sinewy,  with  smooth  face,  bright 
eye,  and  broad  brow,  and  his  neighbors  called  him 
the  "  Little  Giant."  He  could  be  specious,  even 
fallacious ;  he  employed  an  ad  captandum  kind  of 
oratory,  which  was  taking  with  a  crowd  and  con 
fusing  to  an  adversary.  The  man  who  met  him 
in  these  debates  w^as  a  tall,  impressive  personage, 
rough,  original,  but  direct  and  thoroughly  sincere. 
In  many  points  he  was  the  opposite  of  Douglas. 

He  was  rather  an  ill-ordered  growth  of  the  early 
"West,  a  man  who  had  toiled  and  suffered  from  his 
youth  up.  He  was  full  of  sharp  corners  and  rough 
edges,  and  his  nature  was  a  strange  mixture  of  pa- 


162  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

tience  and  melancholy.  As  Mr.  Stephens  said,  he 
regarded  slavery  "  in  the  light  of  a  religious  mysti 
cism,"  and  believed  that  his  mission  to  beat  it  down 
was  God-ordained.  And  yet  he  was  a  statesman, 
a  public  man  of  breadth  and  prominence,  a  speaker 
of  force  and  persuasion.  He  had  the  robust  cour 
age  of  a  pioneer  and  the  high  purpose  of  a  re 
former.  It  was  in  this  debate  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  at 
Freeport,  111.,  asked  Mr.  Douglas  that  memorable 
question,  on  the  stump  :  "  Can  the  people  of  a  Ter 
ritory,  in  any  lawful  way,  exclude  slavery  from 
their  limits,  prior  to  the  formation  of  a  State  con 
stitution  ? "  Mr.  Douglas  promptly  answered, 
"  Yes."  This  was  his  doctrine  of  popular  sov 
ereignty.  But  the  answer  cost  him  the  Democratic 
nomination  to  the  Presidency.  The  theory  that  a 
mass  of  settlers,  squatting  in  a  Territory,  could  fix 
and  determine  the  character  of  the  Territory's 
domestic  institutions,  was  repugnant  to  a  large  por 
tion  of  the  Southern  people.  They  claimed  that  un 
der  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  slavery  already  existed 
in  the  Territories,  and  must  be  protected  by  the 
Constitution;  and  that  it  was  not  competent  for 
the  people  to  determine  for  themselves  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  or  no  slavery,  until  they  formed  a 
constitution  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  a 
State. 

The  election  in  Illinois,  in  the  fall  of  1858,  gave 
Stephen  A.   Douglas   a  majority  of  eight  in  the 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856.  163 

General  Assembly  over  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
Douglas  was  reflected  for  the  new  term.  In  this 
contest  he  had  been  opposed  by  the  Buchanan 
Democrats,  who  cast  over  8000  votes  in  Illinois. 

In  the  Senate,  the  debate  on  popular  sovereignty 
was  renewed.  This  time  Jefferson  Davis,  a  sena 
tor  from  Mississippi,  attacked  this  position  as  in 
compatible  with  the  Constitution  and  the  laws. 
Mr.  Davis  was  a  skillful  debater.  His  mind  was 
singularly  graceful  and  refined.  He  was  eloquent, 
logical,  and  courageous.  His  career  as  soldier  and 
statesman,  as  War  Minister  under  Pierce,  and  as 
senator  for  Mississippi,  made  him  a  prominent 
figure.  He  was  cultured,  classical,  and  well 
rounded,  equipped  by  leisure  and  long  study 
for  the  career  before  him.  He  had  vanquished 
Sergeant  S.  Prentiss  in  public  discussion  over  the 
national  bank,  and  contested,  inch  by  inch,  the 
domination  of  Henry  S.  Foote  in  Mississippi.  His 
career  in  the  Mexican  war  had  been  a  notable  one. 
Allied  to  Zachary  Taylor  by  marriage,  a  West 
Pointer  by  training,  a  Southern  planter  by  occupa 
tion,  he  was  a  typical  defender  of  slavery  as  it  ex 
isted.  Davis  was  as  slender  and  frail  as  Douglas 
was  compact  and  sinewy.  Like  Lincoln,  his  mind 
grasped  great  principles,  while  Douglas  was  fighting 
for  points  and  expedients. 

Douglas  declared  that  the  territorial  settler 
could  determine  whether  slavery  should  exist,  by 


164  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

his  influence  in  providing  or  withholding  police 
power ;  although  he  denied  the  constitutional  right 
to  legislate  slavery  out  of  the  Territories,  yet  he 
believed  the  "  popular  sovereign  "  could,  by  means 
of  "  unfriendly  legislation,"  bar  out  the  Southern 
settler  with  his  slaves.  It  was  not  difficult  for  Mr. 
Davis  to  impale  him  upon  this  plea. 

Senator  Douglas  had  saved  his  seat  in  the  Sen 
ate,  but  his  position  in  the  Democratic  party  was 
weakened.  The  Leconipton  Constitution  passed 
the  Senate  in  spite  of  Douglas's  steady  opposition. 

Senator  Toombs  took  no  part  in  the  subtleties 
of  the  Douglas-Davis  debate.  He  listened  to  the 
refinements  of  that  discussion  with  decided  convic 
tions  of  his  own,  but  wdth  clear  appreciation  of  the 
fact  that  every  point  scored  against  Douglas  was 
cleaving  the  Democratic  party  in  tw^ain.  Mr. 
Toombs  favored  the  adoption  of  the  Leconipton 
Constitution,  but  when  it  was  rejected  by  the 
House,  he  promptly  accepted  the  English  compro 
mise,  to  refer  the  matter  back  to  the  people.  Mr. 
Toombs  had  always  been  partial  to  Douglas.  In 
the  campaign  of  1856  he  declared,  in  Georgia,  that 
"  the  man  who  condemned  Senator  Douglas  needed 
watching  himself."  He  viewed  with  some  pain 
the  Douglas  departure  over  popular  sovereignty ; 
indeed  he  once  declared  that  had  he  not  been 
called  away  from  the  Senate  for  quite  a  time  in 
1856,  Mr.  Douglas  would  never  have  gone  off 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856.  165 

on  this  tangent.  When  asked  if  Douglas  were 
really  a  great  man,  Senator  Toombs,  in  1860,  an 
swered  with  characteristic  heartiness  and  exagger 
ation,  "  There  has  been  but  one  greater,  and  he, 
the  Apostle  Paul." 

It  was  very  evident  that  the  people  of  the  South 
would  demand*  new  guarantees  for  the  protection 
of  slavery  against  the  dogma  of  popular  sover 
eignty.  The  platform  of  the  Cincinnati  convention, 
upon  which  Buchanan  had  been  elected,  must  be 
recast.  The  platform  had  declared  that  immigrants 
to  any  part  of  the  public  domain  were  to  settle  the 
question  of  slavery  for  themselves.  The  new 
plank,  which  President  Buchanan  framed,  was  that 
the  government  of  a  Territory  was  provisional  and 
temporary,  and  during  its  existence,  all  citizens  of 
the  United  States  had  an  equal  right  to  settle  with 
their  property  in  the  Territory,  without  their 
rights,  either  of  person  or  property,  being  de 
stroyed  or  impaired  by  Congressional  or  Territo 
rial  legislation.  The  two  last  words  contained  the 
gist  of  the  resolution,  which  was  aimed  at  Senator 
Douglas.  However  right  as  an  abstract  principle, 
Mr.  Stephens  declared  -  that  this  was  a  departure 
from  the  doctrine  of  non-intervention. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Senator  Toombs  made 
one  of  the  most  important  speeches  of  his  life. 
This  was  delivered  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  September  8, 
1859,  during  an  exciting  campaign.  Governor 


166  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Brown  was  a  candidate  for  reelection,  and  a  strong 
opposition  party  had  developed  in  Georgia,  repre 
senting  tlie  extreme  Southern  sentiment. 

o 

Senator  Toombs  said  that  the  opposition  to  the 
Kansas  bill  had  continued  because  it  was  said  to 
recognize  the  right  of  the  people  of  a  Territory, 
through  the  Territorial  legislature,  to  establish  or 

o  O  / 

prohibit  slavery.  "  When  we  condemned  and  ab 
rogated  Congressional  intervention  against  us," 
said  he,  "  that  was  a  great  point  gained.  Congress 
had  actually  excluded  us  from  the  Territories  for 
thirty  years.  The  people  of  a  Territory  had  in  no 
instance  attempted  such  an  iniquity.  I  considered 
it  wise,  prudent,  and  politic  to  settle  the  question 
against  our  common  enemy,  Congress,  even  if  I  left 
it  unsettled  as  to  our  known  friends,  the  people  of 
the  Territories.  We  could  not  settle  the  question 
of  the  power  of  the  people  over  slavery  while  in  a 
territorial  condition,  because  Democrats  differed 
on  that  point.  We,  therefore,  declared  in  the  Kan 
sas  bill  that  we  left  the  people  of  the  Territories 
perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic 
institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  We  decided  to 
refer  the  question  to  the  Supreme  Court.  It  has 
gone  there  and  been  decided  in  our  favor.  The 
Southern  friends  of  the  measure  repudiate  the 
principle  of  squatter  sovereignty.  I  stand  its 
steady  and  uncompromising  adversary.  The  doc- 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856.  167 

trine  of  Douglas  has  not  a  leg  to  stand  upon.  Yet 
I  do  not  belong  to  those  who  denounce  him.  The 
organization  of  the  Democratic  party  leaves  this  an 
open  question,  and  Mr.  Douglas  is  at  full  liberty  to 
take  either  side  he  may  choose,  and  if  he  maintains 
his  ground  of  neither  making  nor  accepting  new 
tests  of  political  soundness,  I  shall  consider  him  a 
political  friend,  and  will  accept  him  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  party,  whatever  it  may  tender  him. 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  tell  you  that,  .with  his  errors,  I 
prefer  him  and  would  support  him  to-morrow 
against  any  opposition  leader  in  America. 

"  We  are  told,"  said  Mr.  Toombs, "  that  we  must 
put  a  new  plank  in  the  platform  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  demand  the  affirmance  of  the  duty  of 
Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  a  Territory,  where 
such  Territory  may  fail  to  discharge  this  duty.  I 
reply,  I  do  not  think  it  is  wise  to  do  the  thing 
proposed,  and  the  inducement  would  not  help  the 
proposition.  While  I  have  already  asserted  full 
and  complete  power  of  Congress  to  do  this,  I  think, 
with  Mr.  Madison,  that  it  should  be  prudently  and 
carefully  exercised,  and  it  ought  not  to  be  exer 
cised  until  the  occasion  is  imperative.  There  has 
been  no  occasion,  from  1789  to  this  hour,  calling 
for  it,  and  I  am  more  than  willing  that  the  Terri 
torial  settlers  shall  continue  to  govern  themselves 
in  their  own  way,  so  long  as  they  respect  the  rights 
of  all  the  people.  I  will  not  insult  them  by  sup- 


168  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

posing  them  capable  of  disregarding  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  or  by  assuming  that  they 
are  incapable  of  honest  self-government. 

"  No ;  I  shall  prescribe  no  new  test  of  party 
fealty  to  Northern  Democrats,  those  men  who  have 
hitherto  stood  with  honor  and  fidelity  upon  their 
engagements.  They  have  maintained  the  truth  to 
their  own  hurt.  They  have  displayed  a  patriotism, 
a  magnanimity  rarely  equaled  in  the  world's  his 
tory,  and  I  shall  endeavor,  in  sunshine  and  in  storm, 
with  your  approbation  if  I  can  get  it,  without  it  if 
I  must,  to  stand  by  them  with  fidelity  equal  to 
their  great  deserts.  If  you  will  stand  with  me,  we 
shall  conquer  faction  in  the  North  and  South,  and 
shall  save  the  country  from  the  curse  of  being  ruled 
by  the  combination  now  calling  itself  the  opposi 
tion.  We  shall  leave  this  country  to  our  children 
as  we  found  it — united,  strong,  prosperous  and 
happy." 

This  was  a  memorable  speech,  strong,  sincere, 
and  conservative,  and  had  a  marked  effect.  It  was 
intended,  not  only  to  influence  the  canvass  then 
pending,  but  to  have  an  effect  in  controlling  the 
National  convention  to  be  held  six  months  later.  It 
was  copied  far  and  wide,  and  the  success  of  the 
State  candidates  whom  Mr.  Toombs  supported 
showed  that  its  statesmanlike  utterances  were 
adopted  overwhelmingly  in  Georgia. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

JOHN  BKOWN'S  EAID. 

BUT  events  were  moving  fast  and  furiously.  The 
times  needed  no  new  Mirabeau.  The  people 
were  slowly  welding  a  revolution,  which  must 
sweep  statesmen  from  their  feet  and  bear  upon  its 
fierce  current  the  strong  and  weak  alike.  It  has 
been  asserted,  and  with  truth,  that  disunion  was 
precipitated  by  the  people,  not  by  the  politicians— 
by  the  North  as  well  as  by  the  South. 

The  raid  of  John  Brown  of  Kansas  into  Virginia 
was  not  an  event  which  would  have  stirred  the 
people  in  ordinary  times.  It  was  the  wild  foray 
of  a  fanatic,  who  tried  to  stir  up  a  slave  insurrec 
tion.  He  was  captured,  tried,  convicted,  and 
hanged.  There  were  demoralized  followers  and 
duped  negroes  with  him,  when  he  was  overcome 
by  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee,  with  a  detachment  of 
marines,  at  Harper's  Ferry.  This  affair  created  a 
feverish  excitement.  The  South  did  not  know 
how  far  this  movement  extended,  nor  by  what  au 
thority  it  had  been  started.  The  criminal  was 
execrated  at  the  South  and  intemperately  defended 
at  the  North.  The  man,  who  under  normal  con- 


1  VO  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ditions  of  society  would  have  been  sent  to  the 
insane  asylum,  was  sentenced  speedily  to  the  gal 
lows  and  mourned  as  a  martyr  by  many  at  the 
North.  Bells  were  tolled  in  his  honor.  Following 
this  remarkable  episode,  several  free  States  passed 
strong  laws  against  the  detention  of  fugitive  slaves, 
and  the  Northern  press  and  pulpit  teemed  with 
new  lessons  and  fresh  morals.  John  Brown's  body, 
in  the  language  of  the  sentimental  dirge,  "lay 
raoldering  in  his  grave";  but  the  spirit  of  the 
Kansas  boomer  actually  pervaded  the  land. 

What  the  Dred  Scott  decision  had  wrought  at 
the  North,  the  Ossawatomie  raid  awoke  at  the 
South.  The  main  features  of  Buchanan's  adminis 
tration  to  hasten  the  "  irrepressible  conflict "  were 
the  well-weighed  words  of  the  Chief  Justice  and 
the  wild  invasion  of  a  border  ruffian.  Strange 

o 

paradox,  but  such  were  the  influences  at  work 
in  those  disordered  times.  Men  lost  their  moor 
ings,  and  political  parties  abandoned  settled  poli 
cies.  Events  crowded  with  remorseless  impact 
upon  certain  civil  strife. 

Under  this  new  condition  of  things  Mr.  Toombs 
made  his  great  "  door-sill "  speech  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  on  the  24th  of  January,  1860.  It 
was  upon  the  resolution  offered  by  Senator  Doug 
las  calling  for  a  measure  of  protection  of  each 
State  and  Territory  against  invasion  by  the  au 
thorities  and  inhabitants  of  every  other  State  and 


JOHN  BROWN'S  RAID.  171 

Territory.  Senator  Tooinbs  declared  that  the 
resolution  opened  up  a  new  page  in  the  history 
of  our  country.  It  was  a  step  in  the  right  direc 
tion.  He  feared  that  the  disease  lay  too  deep 
for  the  remedy.  Heretofore  the  people  of  the 
United  States  could  grapple  and  surmount  all 
difficulties,  foreign  and  domestic.  A  spirit  of 
nationality,  a  common  interest,  a  common  dan 
ger,  carried  the  country  through  revolutions. 
Now  all  this  has  changed.  The  feeling  of  loy 
alty  and  common  destiny  is  rapidly  passing  away. 
Hostility  to  the  compact  of  the  Union,  to  the  tie 
which  binds  us  together,  finds  utterance  in  the 

<D 

tongues  of  millions  of  our  countrymen,  animates 
their  bosoms,  and  leads  to  the  habitual  disregard 
of  the  plainest  duties  and  obligations.  Large 
bodies  of  men  now  feel  and  know  that  party 
success  involves  danger;  that  the  result  may 
bring  us  face  to  face  with  revolution. 

"  The  fundamental  principles  of  our  Union  are 
assailed,  invaded,  and  threatened  with  destruction  ; 
our  ancient  rights  and  liberties  are  in  danger ;  the 
peace  and  tranquillity  of  our  homes  have  been  in 
vaded  by  lawless  violence,  and  their  further  inva 
sion  is  imminent ;  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
arms  society  to  their  defense." 

Mr.  Toombs  contended  that  this  was  no  new 
principle  introduced  into  our  Constitution.  It 
was  inserted  in  the  ordinance  of  1787.  The  New 


H2  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

England  Confederation  adopted  it  in  1643.  The 
Supreme  Judicial  tribunal  of  Prussia  affirmed  it  as 
the  public  law  of  Europe  as  late  as  1855.  It  was 
acknowledged  to  be  a  sound  principle  of  public 
law  in  the  days  of  Pericles,  and  its  violation  by 
one  of  the  States  of  Greece  was  the  chief  cause  of 
the  Peloponnesian  War,  which  devastated  Greece 
for  twenty-one  years.  The  Megareans  had  given 
refuge  to  the  revolted  slaves  of  Athens." 

"  I  say,"  he  continued,  "  the  bargain  is  broken- 
broken  by  the  States  Avhose  policy  I  have  re 
viewed  ;  broken  by  the  Republican  party,  which 
did  the  work  in  their  legislatures  and  elsewhere. 
Their  hands  are  soiled  with  the  blood  of  the  com 
pact.  They  cannot  be  permitted  to  minister  at  its 
altar.  Their  representatives  on  this  floor  mock  at 
constitutional  obligations ;  jeer  at  oaths.  They 

have  lost  their  shame  with  their  virtue In 

the  name  of  the  people,  I  repeat,  I  demand  the 
bond.  In  the  name  of  every  true  and  honest  man 
at  the  North  as  well  as  the  South,  I  demand  the 
resumption  of  your  plighted  faith.  Upon  these 
terms  I  have  ever  been  willing  to  let  the  Union 
stand,  but  upon  no  other. 

"  Who  is  responsible  for  the  murder,  treason,  and 
arson  of  John  Brown  ?  I  have  never  known  of 
his  acts  being  approved  or  palliated  by  any  other 
person  than  a  Republican.  Thousands  of  them 
have  done  it  and  are  now  doing  it.  In  charging 


JOHN  BROWN'S  RAID.  173 

this  dark  catalogue  of  crime  against  this  organiza 
tion,  I  would  not  be  unjust.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  thousands  of  persons  belonging  to  that  organ 
ization  throughout  the  North,  loathe  and  despise 
John  Brown's  raid ;  but  it  is  equally  true  that 
there  are  other  thousands  in  the  same  organization 
who  do  approve  it.  They  tell  us  that  they  con 
demn  his  acts,  but  admire  his  heroism.  I  think 
the  Republican  party  must  be  pressed  for  a  hero. 
The  i  Newgate  Calendar '  can  furnish  them  with  a 
dozen  such  saints.  To  'die  game'  and  not  to 
1  peach '  are  sometimes  useful,  if  not  heroic,  virtues 
in  an  accomplice.  The  thousands  of  blind  Repub 
licans  who  do  openly  approve  the  treason,  murder, 
and  arson  of  John  Brown,  get  no  condemnation 
from  their  party  for  such  acts.  They  are  its  main 
defenders  and  propagandists  all  over  the  North, 
and,  therefore,  the  party  is  in  moral  complicity  with 
the  criminal  himself.  No  society  can  long  exist 
in  peace  under  these  injuries,  because  we  are  in 
virtual  civil  war ;  hence,  I  denounce  their  authors, 
the  Republican  party,  as  enemies  of  the  Constitu 
tion  and  enemies  of  my  country. 

"  It  is  vain,  in  face  of  these  injuries,  to  talk  of 
peace,  fraternity,  and  common  country.  There  is 
no  peace ;  there  is  no  fraternity ;  there  is  no  com 
mon  country ;  all  of  us  know  it. 

"  Sir,  I  have  but  little  more  to  add — nothing 
for  myself.  I  feel  that  I  have  no  need  to  pledge 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 


my  poor  services  to  this  great  cause,  to  my  coun 
try.  My  State  has  spoken  for  herself.  Nine 
years  ago  a  convention  of  her  people  met  and 
declared  that  her  connection  with  this  govern 
ment  depended  upon  the  faithful  execution  of  the 
Fugitive-slave  law.  I  was  a  member  of  that  con 
vention,  and  I  stood  then  and  stand  now  pledged  to 
its  action.  I  have  faithfully  labored  to  arrest 
these  calamities;  I  will  yet  labor  until  this  last 
contingency  happens,  faithfully,  honestly,  and  to 
the  best  of  my  ability.  When  that  time  comes, 
freemen  of  Georgia,  redeem  your  pledges  !  I  am 
ready  to  redeem  mine.  Your  honor  is  involved, 
your  faith  is  plighted.  I  know  you  feel  a  stain 
as  a  wound.  Your  peace,  your  social  system,  your 
friends  are  involved.  Never  permit  this  Federal 
Government  to  pass  into  the  traitors'  hands  of  the 
black  Eepublican  party.  It  has  already  declared 
war  against  you  and  your  institutions.  It  every 
day  commits  acts  of  war  against  you;  it  has 
already  compelled  you  to  arm  for  your  defense. 
Listen  to  no  vain  babbling;  to  no  treacherous 
jargon  about  l  overt  acts  '  ;  they  have  already  been 
committed.  Defend  yourselves  !  The  enemy  is 
at  your  door;  wait  not  to  meet  him  at  your 
hearthstone  ;  meet  him  at  the  door-sill,  and  drive 
him  from  the  Temple  of  Liberty,  or  pull  down  its 
pillars  and  involve  him  in  a  common  ruin." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  CHAKLESTON  CONVENTION. 

IT  was  an  unfortunate  time  for  the  meeting  of, 
the  Democratic  National  Convention.  The  hope 
that  the  party  which  had  so  often  brought  har 
mony  from  discord  could  unite  upon  the  soil  of 
an  extreme  Southern  State  was  destined  to  be 
broken.  The  body  met  in  Charleston  on  April 
23,  1860.  The  place  was  worthy  of  the  assem 
blage.  For  the  first  time  in  the  party  history, 
its  convention  had  met  south  of  Cincinnati  or  Bal 
timore.  Redolent  with  the  beauties  of  spring  and 
the  tint  of  historic  interest,  Charleston,  with  its 
memories  of  Moultrie,  inspired  feelings  of  patriotic 
pride.  If  it  suggested  the  obstruction  of  Calhoun, 
it  recalled  the  Revolutionary  glory  of  Marion  and 
Rutledge,  and  the  bold  challenge  of  Hayne  to 
Webster,  that  if  there  be  one  State  in  the  Union 
which  could  challenge  comparison  with  any  other 
for  a  uniform,  ardent,  and  zealous  devotion  to  the 
Union,  that  State  was  South  Carolina. 

It  was  a  memorable  meeting.  The  convention 
was  presided  over  by  Caleb  Gushing  of  Massa 
chusetts,  the  devoted  friend  of  Daniel  Webster,  and 

175 


1V6  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Attorney-General  under  Franklin  Pierce.  In  its 
ranks  were  Henry  B.  Payne  of  Ohio,  Benjamin  F. 
Butler  of  Massachusetts,  and  James  A.  Bayard  of 
Delaware.  These  men  were  towers  of  strength  in 
the  North.  They  were  the  men  to  whom  Robert 
Toombs  had  appealed  in  the  Senate,  when  he 
turned  from  his  fiery  imprecation  and,  lowering  his 
great  voice,  declared,  with  tenderness  and  pride, 
"  I  have  no  word  of  invocation  to  those  who  stand 
to-day  in  the  ranks  of  Northern  Democracy,  but  to 
remember  and  emulate  their  past  history.  From 
the  beginning  of  this  controversy  they  have  stood 
firmly  by  the  Constitution.  No  body  of  men  in 
the  world's  history  ever  exhibited  higher  or  nobler 
devotion  to  principle  under  such  adverse  circum 
stances Amid  the  opprobrious  epithets,  the 

gibes  and  jeers  of  the  enemies  of  the  Constitution ; 
worse  than  this,  amid  words  of  distrust  and  re 
proach  even  from  men  of  the  South,  these  great 
hearted  patriots  have  marched  steadily  in  the  path 

of  duty The  union  of  all  these  elements 

may  yet  secure  to  our  country  peace  and  safety. 
But  if  this  cannot  be  done,  safety  and  peace  are 
incompatible  in  the  Union.  Amid  treachery  and 
desertion  at  home,  and  injustice  from  without, 
amid  disaster  and  defeat,  they  have  risen  superior 
to  fortune,  and  stand  to-day  with  their  banners  all 
tattered  and  soiled  in  the  humble  service  of  the 
whole  country.  No  matter  what  fortune  may  be- 


THE  CHARLESTON-  CONVENTION.  177 

tide  us  in  the  future,  while  life  lasts,  I  have  a  hand 
that  will  succor  and  a  heart  ready  to  embrace  the 
humblest  soldier  of  this  noble  band." 

At  that  time  there  were  thirty-three  States  in 
the  Union.  The  committee  on  platform  consisted 
of  one  from  each  State.  The  delegates  from 
California  and  Oregon,  voting  with  the  South, 
gave  them  seventeen  votes  in  committee.  The 
resolutions  were  quickly  framed,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  one  on  slavery.  Here  was  the  dead 
lock.  The  majority  plank  declared  that  the  right 
to  settle  in  the  Territories  with  slaves  "was 
not  to  be  destroyed  nor  impaired  by  Territorial 
legislation."  The  minority  proposed  once  more 
to  leave  the  question  to  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
compromise  was  not  accepted.  The  two  reports 
came  before  the  convention,  and,  the  Douglas  men 
being  in  the  majority  on  the  floor,  the  minority,  or 
squatter-sovereignty  report,  was  adopted  by  a  vote 
of  165  to  138.  Here  came  the  crisis.  The  dele 
gates  from  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Florida,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Texas,  and  a  part  of  Delaware,  withdrew 
from  the  convention.  Hon.  William  L.  Yancey  of 
Alabama  led  this  movement.  He  was  a  man  of 
courage  and  decision,  with  unrivaled  powers  of 
oratory.  He  had  been  a  member  of  Congress,  and 
his  influence  in  the  South  was  large.  So  far  back 
as  June  15,  1858,  he  had  written  a  famous  letter 
to  James  M.  Slaughter  that  "no  national  party 


HS  ROBERT  TOOMB8. 

can  save  us;  no  sectional  party  can  ever  do  it; 
but  if  we  would  do  as  our  fathers  did,  organize 
committees  of  safety  all  over  the  cotton  States— 
and  it  is  only  to  them  that  we  can  hope  for  any 
effectual  movement — we  shall  fire  the  Southern 
heart,  instruct  the  Southern  mind,  give  courage  to 
each  other,  and,  by  one  concerted  action,  we  can* 
precipitate  the  cotton  States  into  a  revolution." 
This  was  called  the  "  Scarlet  Letter,"  and  was 
widely  scattered  and  read. 

The  seceding  delegates  organized  a  second  as 
semblage  over  which  the  Hon.  James  A.  Bayard 
presided.  The  Douglas  men  were  left  in  control 
of  the  first  convention,  but  could  not  secure  the 
two-thirds  vote  necessary  for  his  nomination.  More 
than  fifty  ballots  were  taken,  the  full  strength  of 
the  Illinois  candidate  being  152.  On  the  3d 
of  May  the  convention  adjourned  to  meet  in 
Baltimore  on  the  18th  of  June,  when  it  was  hoped 
a  spirit  of  compromise  might  be  inspired  by  the 
seriousness  of  the  situation. 

On  the  night  of  the  break  in  that  body  Mr. 
Yancey  made  a  speech  in  Charleston,  when  in  pro 
phetic  words  he  declared,  "Perhaps  even  now 
the  pen  of  the  historian  is  nibbed  to  inscribe  the 
history  of  a  new  revolution." 

The  seceding  delegates  called  for  a  convention 
to  be  held  in  Richmond,  Va.,  on  the  second  Mon 
day  in  June. 


THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  179 

When  the  seven  States  had  withdrawn  from 
the  convention,  the  Georgia  delegation  was  split 
up.  A  majority  left  the  convention,  a  small 
minority  remained.  This  action  created  great 
excitement  in  Georgia.  The  Democratic  executive 
committee  called  a  State  convention  to  meet  in 
Milledgeville  on  June  4.  A  committee  of  promi 
nent  citizens,  headed  by  Hon.  J.  J.  Gresham  of 
Macon,  addressed  letters  to  public  men  asking 
their  views  in  this  alarming  situation.  Howell 
Cobb  indorsed  the  seceders ;  he  was  opposed 
to  Douglas.  Alexander  H.  Stephens  thought 
Georgia  should  appoint  delegates  to  the  Baltimore 
convention,  withdraw  the  demand  for  a  new  plank 
in  the  Cincinnati  platform,  abide  by  the  doctrine 
of  non-intervention,  and  nominate  a  good  man  for 
President.  "  If  we  must  quarrel  with  the  North," 
said  he,  "  let  us  base  it  on  the  aggressive  acts  of 
our  enemies  and  not  on  the  supposed  shortcomings 
of  our  friends." 

Hon.  Robert  Toombs  did  not  come  South  dur 
ing  the  Charleston  convention.  He  watched  from 
his  post  in  the  Senate  the  great  struggle  between 
the  Democratic  factions.  On  May  10,  he  wrote, 
in  reply  to  the  letter  of  the  Macon  committee  : 

Perhaps  the  time  may  not  have  come  for  the  attainment 
of  the  full  measure  of  our  constitutional  rights  ;  it  may  not 
have  been  prudent  on  the  part  of  the  representatives  of  the 
seventeen  States  to  have  sanctioned  and  presented  as  much 


180  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

truth  on  the  slavery  issue  as  is  contained  in  what  is  com 
monly  called  the  majority  platform  ;  Hit  when  it  was  thus 
sanctioned,  approved,  and  presented  to  the  convention,  it 
was  well  to  stand  by  and  defend  it,  especially  against  the 
platform  of  the  minority.  The  seceding  delegates  did  this 
with  manly  firmness,  and  I  approve  their  action. 

Mr.  Toombs  advised,  however,  that  the  seceding 
delegates  ought  to  meet  with  the  convention  at 
Baltimore  and  endeavor  to  obtain  such  a  satisfac 
tory  adjustment  of  difficulties  as  could  be  secured. 
"  This  course  requires  no  sacrifice  of  principles." 
This  plan  had  been  proposed  by  the  delegates  from 
New  York  to  the  delegates  from  the  Southern 
States.  "  The  proposed  Eichmond  convention,  if 
it  shall  be  found  necessary  to  hold  it,"  he  said, 
"  can  be  held  after,  as  well  as  before  the  Baltimore 
convention,  and  I  think  with  clearer  lights  for  its 
guidance." 

"  It  is  sometimes  wise,"  said  Mr.  Toombs,  "  to 
accept  a  part  of  our  just  rights,  if  we  can  have  the 
residue  unimpaired  and  uncompromised,  but  noth 
ing  can  justify  a  voluntary  surrender  of  principle, 
indispensable  to  the  safety  and  honor  of  the  State. 

"  It  is  true  we  are  surrounded  with  danger,  but 
I  do  not  concur  in  the  opinion  that  the  danger  to 
the  Union  is  even  one  of  our  greatest  perils.  The 
greatest  danger,  to-day,  is  that  the  Union  will  sur 
vive  the  Constitution.  The  body  of  your  enemies 
in  the  North,  who  hate  the  Constitution,  and  daily 


THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION-.  181 

trample  it  under  their  feet,  profess  an  ardent  at 
tachment  to  the  Union,  and  I  doubt  not,  feel  such 
attachment  for  a  Union  unrestrained  by  a  Consti 
tution.  Do  not  mistake  your  real  danger  !  The 
Union  has  more  friends  than  you  have,  and  will 
last,  at  least,  as  long  as  its  continuance  will  be 
compatible  with  your  safety." 

Prior  to  the  reassembling  of  the  Democratic 
convention,  the  resolutions  introduced  by  the 
Hon.  Jefferson  Davis,  containing  the  Southern  ex 
position  of  principles,  came  up  in  the  Senate.  Mr. 
Toombs  had  opposed  the  policy  of  introducing 
those  resolutions,  but  as  -they  were  then  before  the 
country,  he  said  they  should  be  met.  He  ridi 
culed  the  idea  of  popular  sovereignty.  He  de 
clared  that  Congress  should  protect  slavery  in  the 
Territories.  The  Federal  Government,  he  claimed, 
did  protect  its  citizens,  native  and  naturalized,  at 
home  and  abroad,  everywhere  except  on  the  soil 
of  our  own  territory,  acquired  by  common  blood 
and  treasure. 

This  speech  of  Senator  Toombs  marked  an 
epoch  in  his  career.  It  separated  him  entirely 
from  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  to  whom  he  had  been 
closely  allied,  in  spite,  as  he  said,  of  Douglas  hav 
ing  wandered  after  strange  gods.  Douglas  ab 
sented  himself  from  the  Senate  when  Toombs 
spoke.  For  the  firsfc  time  in  twenty  years,  Toombs 
and  Stephens  took  divergent  paths.  They  were 


J182  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

called  in  Georgia  the  "  Siamese  twins."  From  the 
election  of  Harrison  to  the  Democratic  split  in 
I860,  they  had  been  personal  friends  and  firm 
political  allies.  Mr.  'Stephens  was  for  Douglas 
and  the  Union ;  Mr.  Toombs  feared  lest  "  the 
Union  survive  the  Constitution." 

The  Democratic  party  in  Georgia  met  on  June 
4,  and  parted  on  the  lines  of  the  Charleston  divi 
sion.  The  Union  element  in  Georgia  was  led  by 
Herschel  V.  Johnson,  a  man  of  power  and  influ 
ence.  He  had  been  Governor  of  the  State,  was  a 
man  of  learning,  profound  in  thought  and  can 
did  in  expression.  His  wife  was  a  niece  of  Presi 
dent  Polk.  His  state  papers  were  models  of 
clear  and  classical  expression.  Governor  John 
son  was,  however,  better  fitted  for  the  bench  or  the 
Cabinet  than  for  a  public  leader. 

Both  wings  of  the  Georgia  convention  appointed 
delegates  to  the  Baltimore  convention.  That  body 
admitted  the  delegation  which  had  seceded  from 
the  Charleston  convention.  As  the  seceding  del 
egates  from  the  other  States  were  rejected,  the 
Georgia  delegates  refused  to  go  in.  Missouri  was 
the  only  Southern  State  which  was  represented 
entirely  in  the  body,  composed  of  190  delegates. 
Massachusetts  withdrew  and  Caleb  dishing  re 
signed  the  chair.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  nomi 
nated  for  President  of  the  United  States.  Gov 
ernor  Fitzpatrick  of  Alabama  declined  the  vice 


THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  183 

presidency,  and  Herschel  V.  Johnson  of  Georgia 
was  chosen  for  vice  president.  The  seceders  im 
mediately  organized  a  national  convention,  Mr. 
Gushing  presiding.  It  was  composed  of  210  dele 
gates.  The  majority  or  anti-Douglas  platform  of 
the  Charleston  convention  was  adopted.  John 
C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky  was  nominated  for 
President,  and  Joseph  C.  Lane  of  Oregon  for  vice 
president.  Mr.  Breckenridge  was  at  that  time  vice 
president  of  the  United  States,  and  Mr.  Lane  was 
a  senator.  Meanwhile,  a  Constitutional  Union 
party  had  been  formed  in  Georgia,  and  had  elected 
delegates  to  a  convention  of  that  party  in  Balti 
more.  This  body  nominated  for  President  and  vice 
president,  John  Bell  of  Tennessee  and  Edward 
Everett  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Bell  had  been 
United  States  Senator  at  the  time  of  the  passage 
of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  in  1854,  and  had  been 
arraigned  by  Mr.  Toombs  for  opposing  the  party 
policy.  He  was  one  of  the  thirteen  who  voted 
against  it  in  the  Senate. 

The  contest  in  Georgia  waged  with  much  vigor. 
Robert  Toombs  supported  Breckenridge.  He  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  State  convention 

O 

which  put  out  a  Breckenridge  and  Lane  electoral 
ticket.  He  cut  out  the  business  of  that  conven 
tion,  and  declared  that  the  Constitution  and  equal 
ity  of  the  States  was  the  only  bond  of  everlasting 
union.  Mr.  Stephens  headed  the  Douglas  ticket. 


184  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Senator  Douglas  himself  came  to  Georgia  and 
spoke  during  the  campaign.  The  Bell  and  Ever 
ett  ticket  was  championed  by  Benjamin  H.  Hill. 
The  vote  in  Georgia  was:  Breckenridge,  51,893; 
Douglas,  11,580;  Bell,  42,855. 

Of  these  three  Georgians,  so  strikingly  arrayed 
against  each  other  in  this  critical  campaign,  Mr. 
Vincent,  a  gifted  Texan,  thus  wrote  with  dramatic 
power:  "Hill,  Stephens,  Toombs — all  eloquent, 
all  imbued  with  the  same  lofty  patriotism.  They 
differed  widely  in  their  methods ;  their  opinions 
were  irreconcilable,  their  policies  often  diametri 
cally  opposite.  .Hill  was  quick,  powerful,  but  un- 
persistent ;  Stephens,  slow,  forcible  and  compromis 
ing;  Toombs,  instantaneous,  overwhelming,  and 
unyielding.  Hill  carried  the  crowd  with  a  whirl 
wind  of  eloquence  ;  Stephens  first  convinced,  then 
moved  them  with  accelerating  force ;  Toombs 
swept  them  with  a  hurricane  of  thought  and  mag- 

-1-  O  O 

netic  example.  Hill's  eloquence  was  in  nights, 
always  rising  and  finally  sublime ;  Stephens'  was 
argumentative  with  an  elegant  smoothness,  often 
flowing  in  sweeping,  majestic  waves ;  Toombs'  was 
an  engulfing  stream  of  impetuous  force,  with  the 
roar  of  thunder.  Hill  was  receptive,  elastic,  and 
full  of  the  future  ;  Stephens  was  philosophical, 
adaptable,  and  full  of  the  past ;  Toombs  was 
inexhaustible,  original,  inflexible,  and  full  of  the 
now.  It  was  Hill's  special  forte  to  close  a  cam- 


THE  CHARLESTON  CONVENTION.  185 

paign  ;  Stephens'  to  manage  it ;  Toombs'  to  orig 
inate  it.  In  politics  as  in  war,  lie  sought,  with  the 
suddenness  of  an  electric  flash,  to  combat,  van 
quish,  and  slay.  Hill's  eloquence  exceeded  his 
judgment ;  Stephens'  judgment  was  superior  to 
his  oratorical  power ;  in  Toombs  these  were  equi 
pollent.  Hill  considered  expediency ;  Stephens, 
policy  ;  Toombs,  principle  always ;  Hill  would  per 
haps  flatter,  Stephens  temporize,  Toombs  neither 
—never.  At  times  Hill  would  resort  to  the  arts  of 
the  dialectician  ;  Stephens  would  quibble  over  the 
niceties  of  construction ;  Toombs  relied  on  the  im 
pregnability  of  his  position,the  depth  of  his  thought, 
the  vigor  of  his  reasoning.  Hill  discussed  with  op 
ponents  ;  Stephens  debated  with  them;  Toombs 
ignored  them.  Hill  refuted  and  vanquished  his 
adversaries ;  Stephens  persuaded  and  led  them ; 
Toombs  magnetized  them,  and  they  followed  him. 
Their  enemies  said  that  Hill  was  treacherous  in 
politics ;  Stephens  selfishly  ambitious ;  and  that 
Toombs  loaned  like  a  prince  and  collected  like  a 
Shylock. 

"  In  those  days  Georgia  did  not  put  pygmies  on 
pedestals.  Hill  will  be  remembered  by  his i  Notes 
on  the  Situation';  Stephens  by  his' War  between 
the  States';  Toombs  had  no  circumstantial  su 
periority.  He  is  immortal,  as  the  people  are 
eternal." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

TOOMBS    AS    A    LEGISLATOR 

GEOKGIA  had  taken  a  leading  hand  in  the  mo 
mentous  events.  Alexander  H.  Stephens  had 
been  prominently  mentioned  for  President ;  so 
had  Ho  well  Cob.b.  When  Senator  Toombs  had 
attacked  the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Douglas,  the  follow 
ers  of  the  latter  charged  that  Mr.  Toombs  had  de 
serted  his  old  ally,  and  was  himself  making  a  bid 
for  the  presidency.  Especially  was  this  the  case, 
they  urged,  as  Mr.  Toombs  had  recommended 
the  seceding  delegates  to  go  back  to  the  Balti 
more  convention,  and  endeavor  to  effect  an  hon 
orable  adjustment.  The  Augusta  Chronicle  and 
Sentinel,  a  leading  Union  organ,  took  up  the 
charge  and  asked  :  "  What  of  it  ?  He  is  cer 
tainly  as  much  entitled  to  it  as  any  citizen  in 
the  republic.  Were  he  elected,  he  would  be  such 
a  President  as  the  country  needs,  giving  no  coun 
tenance  to  corruption  or  fraud,  but,  with  a  will  of 
his  own,  setting  aside  all  dictation  and  acting  as 
President  of  all  the  people.  We  doubt  if  there 
is  a  man  that  could  arouse  such  a  furor  in  his  be 
half,  North  or  South,  as  Robert  Toombs." 

186 


TOOMBS  AS  A   LEGISLATOR  187 

Close  friends  of  Mr.  Toombs  at  that  time  be 
lieved  lie  was  not  without  his  ambition  to  occupy 
the  Executive  chair.  Never  an  office-seeker,  he 
had  gone  easily  to  the  front  rank  of  national  poli 
tics  and  had  won  his  honors  in  Georgia  in  a  kingly 
way.  He  realized,  however,  that  he  was  not  po 
litic  enough  to  gain  support  from  Northern 
States.  His  convictions  were  overmastering  pas 
sions  ;  his  speech  was  fervid  and  fearless ;  and  his 
bold,  imperturbable  expression  had  placed  him  in 
a  fierce  white  light,  which  barred  him  from  the 
promotion  of  party  conventions.  While  his  ene 
mies  were  accusing  him  of  a  desire  to  destroy  the 
Union  and  embroil  the  sections,  Kobert  Toombs 
was  probably  cherishing  in  his' heart  a  vague  hope 
that  one  day  he  might  be  called  to  the  presidency 
of  a  common  country. 

Senator  Toombs  was  very  active  in  attending  to 
his  public  duties.  He  was  interested  in  every 
species  of  legislation.  His  remarks  .upon  the  dif 
ferent  matters  of  national  business  exhibited  ver 
satility,  study,  and  interest  in  everything  that 
affected  the  public  welfare.  Those  who  believe 
him  to  have  been  a  conspirator,  using  his  high 
position  to  overthrow  the  government,  have  only 
to  look  over  the  debates  in  Congress  to  see  how 
active  and  conscientious  were  his  efforts  to  pro 
mote  every  real  interest  of  the  Union. 

In  the  United  States  Senate,  on  July  31,  1854? 


I88  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Mr.  Toombs  gave  an  elaborate  exposition  of  his 
views  upon  the  policy  of  internal  improvements. 
He  said  he  had  maintained  opposition  to  this  sys 
tem  as  a  fundamental  principle.  Since  he  entered 
public  life,  he  had  sustained  President  Folk's  veto 
of  the  River  and  Harbor  bill  in  1847.  He  be 
lieved  that  Congress  had  no  constitutional  power 
to  begin  or  carry  on  a  general  system  of  internal 
improvements.  He  wanted  to  know  where  this 
power  of  the  Constitution  could  be  found.  Madi 
son  and  Jefferson  had  opposed  this  system. 
Monroe,'  Jackson,  and  Clay  had  yielded  to  the 
popular  pressure  and  sanctioned  it,  "  Instead  of 
leaving  the  taxes  or  the  money  in  the  pockets  of 
the  people,"  he  said,  "you  have  spent  nine  months 
in  endeavoring  to  squander  and  arranging  to  have 
more  to  squander  in  the  next  Congress.  I  should 
like  to  use  a  polite  term,"  said  he,  "  for  I  am  a 
good-natured  man,  but  I  think  it  is  corruption. 

"In  this  bill  you  offer  me  seventy  thousand 
dollars  for  the  Savannah  river.  Ships  were  sunk 
in  that  river  for  the  common  defense  of  the 
country  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  You  are 
bound  to  abate  your  nuisance  at  common  law. 
You  might  offer  me  this  Capitol  full  of  gold,  and 
I  would  scorn  the  gift  just  less  than  the  giver. 
You  ought  to  have  removed  these  obstructions 
long  ago.  When  we  come  and  ask  of  you  this 
act  of  justice,  you  tell  me  to  go  with  you  into 


TOOMBS  AS  A  LEGISLATOR.  189 

your  internal  improvement  bill  and  take  pot-lnck 
with  you." 

Mr.  Toombs  claimed  that  the  power  given  to 
Congress  to  regulate  commerce,  simply  meant  to 
prescribe  the  rules  by  which  commerce  could  be 
carried  on,  and  nothing  else.  "The  people  of 
Maryland,"  he  said,  "had  never  asked  that  the 
harbor  of  Baltimore  should  be  cleaned  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  people  of  Georgia.  They  did  not 
ask  that  other  people  should  pay  their  burdens. 
They  came  here  and  asked  the  privilege  of  taxing 
their  own  commerce  for  their  own  benefit,  and  we 
granted  it.  I  hold  it  to  be  a  fundamental  prin 
ciple  in  all  governments,  and  especially  in  all  free 
governments,  that  you  should  not  put  burdens  on 
the  people  whenever  you  can  discriminate  and 
put  them  on  those  who  enjoy  the  benefits.  You 
started  with  that  principle  with  your  post-office 
establishments. 

"Senators,  is  it  just?  I  tell  you,  as  God 
lives,  it  is  not  just,  and  you  ought  not  to  do  it. 
There  is  manhood  in  the  people  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  Let  them  levy  tonnage  duties  for  their 
own  rivers  and  ports  and  put  up  their  own  light 
houses,  and  charge  the  people  who  use  them  for 
the  benefits  conferred.  Let  the  honest  farmer 
who  makes  his  hay,  who  gathers  his  cheese,  who 
raises  his  meal  in  Vermont,  be  not  taxed  to  in 
crease  your  magnificent  improvements  of  nature 


190  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

and  your  already  gigantic  wealth.  Senators,  it  is 
unjust." 

During  the  session  of  Congress  of  1856-57, 
Senator  Toombs  -again  arraigned  the  whole  system 
of  internal  improvements.  He  carefully  differ 
entiated  between  building  a  lighthouse  and  clear 
ing  out  a  harbor  by  the  Federal  Government.  He 
said  in  course  of  the  debate:  "Where  lighthouses 
are  necessary  for  the  protection  of  your  navy,  I 
admit  the  power  to  make  them ;  but  it  must  be 
where  they  are  necessary,  and  not  merely  for  the 
benefit  and  facilitation  of  commerce.  Foreign  and 
domestic  commerce  ought  to  be  charged,  as  in 
England  and  France,  for  the  benefit  they  receive. 
I  would  make  the  shipowners,  the  common  car 
riers  of  this  country,  who  are  constantly  using  the 
power  of  this  government  to  make  money  out  of 
the  products  of  *  honest  industry  and  agriculture, 
submit  to  this  rule. 

"The  power  to  found  a  navy  is  found  in  the 
only  fountain  of  power  in  this  country,  the  Con 
stitution.  The  defense  of  one  is  the  defense  of 
all.  The  destruction  of  nationality  is  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  life  of  all. 

"  I  say  if  you  take  away  the  property  of  one 
man  and  give  it  to  a  thousand,  or  if  you  take 
away  the  property  of  a  million  and  give  it  to 
nineteen  millions,  you  do  not  create  national 
wealth  by  transferring  it  from  the  pockets  of 


TOOMBS  AS  A  LEGISLATOR.  191 

honest  industry  to  other  people's  pockets.  This 
is  ray  principle.  It  is  immovable.  The  more 
commerce-  there  is  on  the  Mississippi  the  more 
they  are  able  and  competent  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  transporting  it,  and  I  only  ask  that  they  shall 
do  it." 

Mr.  Toombs  sustained  the  veto  of  President 
Pierce  of  the  Mississippi  River  bill. 

In  July,  1856,  he  said  that  he  had  for  eleven 
years  maintained  the  vetoes  of  Mr.  Polk.  "  I 
have  perceived  that  this  mischief  is  widespread, 
this  corruption  greater,  this  tendency  to  the 
destruction  of  the  country  is  more  dangerous. 
The  tendency  to  place  the  whole  government 
under  the  money  power  of  the  nation  is  greater 
and  greater.  The  danger  may  be  all  of  my 
imagination ;  but  whether  that  be  so,  or  whether 
I  see  in  a  bolder  light  the  evil  that  will  grow  by 
letting  this  sluice  from  the  public  treasury  and 
making  it  run  by  the  will  of  the  majority,  I 
deem  it  so  important  that  it  may  be  worth  an 
empire.  We  are  called  on,  upon  the  idea  of 
everybody  helping  everybody's  bill,  to  vote  for 
them  all.  There  certainly  can  be  no  greater 
abandonment  of  public  principle  than  is  here 
presented." 

Senator  Toombs,  while  a  member  of  the  Georgia 
Legislature,  opposed  the  omnibus  bill,  granting 
State  aid  to  railroads,  and  one  of  the  first  devices 


192  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

to  fall  under  his  criticism  was  a  scheme  to  build  a 
road  to  his  own  town.  He  was  by  nature  pro 
gressive.  He  championed  the  cause  of  the  State 
railroad  of  Georgia.  In  general  terms  he  believed 
that  the  States  and  the  people  should  carry  out 
works  of  internal  improvement.  It  is  said  that 
the  first  office  ever  held  by  Mr.  Toombs  was  that 
of  commissioner  of  the  town  of  Washington,  Ga. 
The  election  hinged  upon  a  question  of  public  im 
provement,  the  question  being  "  ditch  or  no  ditch  " ; 
Toombs  was  elected  commissioner,  and  the  ditch 
wras  dug. 

He  was  nothing  of  a  demagogue.  He  did  not 
attempt  to  belittle  the  public  service.  He  cham 
pioned  the  provision  for  higher  pay  for  the  United 
States  Judges,  and  for  increasing  the  stipend  of 
army  officers,  although  he  denounced  the  system 
of  double  rations  as  vicious.  He  did  not  hesitate 
to  hit  an  unnecessary  expense  in  every  shape. 
All  overflowing  pension  grabs  found  in  him  a 
deadly  enemy.  In  December,  1856,  while  speak 
ing  on  the  subject  of  claims,  he  said:  "In  1828, 
when  half  a  century  had  passed  over  the  heads  of 
the  men  who  fought  your  battles,  when  their 
generation  was  gone,  wdien  Tories  and  jobbers 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  really 
meritorious,  the  agents  came  here  and  attempted 
to  intimidate  public  men."  He  alluded  to  pen 
sion  agents  as  men  who  prowl  about  and  make 


TOO  MBS  AS  A  LEGISLATOR.  193 

fortunes  by  peddling  in  the  pretended  patriotism 
and  sufferings  of  their  fathers. 

"  It  is,"  said  he,  "  a  poor  pretext  for  an  honor 
able  man  to  come  and  tell  the  government,  '  My 
ancestor  fought  for  his  own  and  the  public  lib 
erty  ;  he  did  not  choose  to  be  a  slave  to  a  foreign 
despotism ;  but  with  manliness,  and  honor,  and 
patriotism,  he  fought  during  the  war;  now  pay 
me  for  this.  I  want  to  be  paid  in  hard  dollars 
for  the  honor,  and  chivalry,  and  patriotism  of  my 
ancestor.'  I  tell  you,  Mr.  President,  it  is  not 
good  money;  it  is  bad  money;  it  is  dishonor 
able  to  the  memory  of  those  who  fought  your 
battles." 

In  February,  1857,  the  electoral  vote  for  Pres 
ident  was  counted  by  the  two  Houses  of  Congress. 
The  vote  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin  (five  ballots) 
had  been  cast  on  a  day  other  than  that  fixed  by  the 
States  for  the  meeting  of  the  Electoral  College. 
If  counted,  it  gave  Fremont  114  votes;  if  omitted, 
Fremont  would  have  109. 

In  the  debate  which  followed,  Senator  Toombs 
discussed  very  closely  a  point  which  has  since 
been  the  subject  of  sharp  contention.  He  said : 
".The  duty  of  counting  the  vote  for  President  de 
volves  on  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 
They  must  act  in  their  separate  capacities;  but 
they  alone  can  determine  it,  and  not  the  President 
of  the  Senate  and  the  tellers  of  the  two  Houses. 


194  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

It  is  a  high  privilege,  a  dangerous  one  to  the 
liberties  and  Constitution  of  this  country.  The 
Senate  and  House  must  determine  the  votes  to  be 
counted,  and  the  President  of  the  Senate  can  only 
announce  those  to  be  votes  which  are  thus  decided 
by  competent  authority,  and  any  attempt  of  the 
presiding  officer  to  declare  what  votes  he  may 
deem  to  be  legal,  or  to  decide  which  are  the  votes, 
no  matter  whether  it  affects  the  result  or  not,  or 
even  to  say  that  the  question  shall  not  be  decided, 
however  highly  I  respect  the  chair,  I  submit  is 
not  a  power  given  to  the  presiding  officer  by  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws." 

In  1850  Senator  Toombs  found  it  necessary  to 
oppose  an  appropriation  for  an  experiment  with 
the  Atlantic  cable.  He  Avas  not  prepared  to  say 
that  the  experiment  would  not  be  successful,  but 
he  boldly  declared,  despite  the  importance  of  the 
work  and  the  high  character  of  the  men  who  were 
supporting  it,  that  there  was  no  power  in  the 
Federal  Constitution  for  such  an  appropriation. 
Because  the  government  establishes  post  roads,. it 
could  not  be  inferred  that  the  government  had  the 
power  to  aid  in  transmitting  intelligence  to  all 
quarters  of  the  globe.  He  did  not  believe  in  go 
ing  beyond  the  constitutional  guarantees.  He 
declared  of  these  questions,  as  he  had  in  the  de 
bate  upon  the  Kansas  bill,  that  in  hunting  for 
power  and  authority  he  knew  but  one  place  to  go 


TOOMBS  AS  A  LEGISLATOR.  195 

—to  the  Constitution.     When  lie  did  not  find  it 
there,  he  could  not  find  it  anywhere. 

Senator  Toombs  favored  the  purchase  of  Cuba, 
because  he  considered  it  advantageous  to  the  re 
public.  "I  will  accept  Canada  as  readily,  if  it 
can  be  honestly  and  fairly  done,"  he  said.  "  I  will 
accept  Central  America  and  such  part  of  Mexico 
as,  in  my  judgment,  would  be  advantageous  to  the 
republic." 

The  question  of  the  slave  population  of  Cuba 
should  not  come  into  this  discussion,  he  declared. 
"  I  will  not  trammel  the  great  constitutional  power 
of  the  Executive  to  deal  with  foreign  nations, 
with,  our  internal  questions ;  and  I  will  not  manacle 
my  country,  I  will  not  handcuff  the  energies  of 
this  mighty  republic,  by  tying  up  our  foreign 
diplomacy  with  our  internal  dissensions.  At  least 
to  the  rest  of  the  world,  let  us  present  ourselves 
as  one  people,  one  nation."  He  spurned  the  idea 
that  he  wanted  Cuba  to  strengthen  the  slave 
power  in  Congress.  He  said,  "  Some  may  think 
we  go  for  it  because  by  this  means  we  shall  have 
one  more  slave  State  in  the  Union.  I  know  that 
the  senator  from  New  York  (Mr.  Seward)  at  the 
last  session  alluded  to  the  comparative  number  of 
slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  States ;  but  I 
never  considered  that  my  rights  lay  there ;  I. never 
considered  that  I  held  my  rights  of  property  by 
the  votes  of  senators.  It  is  too  feeble  a  tenure. 


196  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

If  I  did,  I  have  shown  by  my  votes  that  I  have 
not  feared  them.  Whenever  any  State,  Minnesota 
or  Oregon,  or  any  other,  came,  no  matter  from 
where,  if  she  came  on  principles  which  were  suffi 
cient  in  my  judgment  to  justify  her  admission  into 
this  great  family  of  nations,  I  never  refused  her 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  I  did  not  inquire 
whether  you  had  seventeen  or  eighteen  free  States. 
If  you  had  fifty,  it  would  not  alter  my  vote.  The 
idea  of  getting  one  slave  State  would  have  no  effect 
on  me.  But  Cuba  has  fine  ports,  and  with  her 
acquisition,  we  can  make  first  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  then  the  Carribean  Sea,  a  mare  clausum. 
Probably  younger  men  than  you  or  I  will  live  to 
see  the  day  when  no  flag  shall  float  there  except 
by  permission  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
That  is  my  policy.  I  rose  more  with  a  view  to 
declare  my  policy  for  the  future ;  that  develop 
ment,  that  progress  throughout  the  tropics  was 
the  true,  fixed,  unalterable  policy  of  the  nation, 
no  matter  what  may  be  the  consequences  with 
reference  to  European  powers." 

Mr.  Toombs  believed  that  much  bad  legislation 
resulted  from  trusting  too  much  to  committees. 
He  rarely  failed  to  question  such  reports,  and 
never  voted  unless  he  thoroughly  understood  the 
subject.  He  thought  this  whole  machinery  was  a 
means  of  "  transferring  the  legislation  of  the  coun 
try  from  those  into  whose  hands  the  Constitution 


TOOMBS  AS  A  LEGISLATOR  197 

had  placed  it  to  irresponsible  parties."  He  said 
it  was  a  common  newspaper  idea  that  Congress 
was  wasting  time  in  debating  details.  His  opinion 
was  that  nine-tenths  of  the  time  the  best  thing  to 
be  done  in  public  legislation  was  to  do  nothing. 
He  thought  Congress  was  breaking  down  the 
government  by  its  own  weight  in  "  pensioning  all 
the  vagrants  brought  here.  All  that  a  man  has 
to  do  is  to  make  affidavit  and  get  a  pension." 

In  1859  he  refused  to  vote  to  appropriate 
$500,000  for  the  improvement  of  Buffalo  harbor, 
because  he  held  he  had  no  right  to  spend  the 
money  of  the  whole  Union  for  a  particular  lo 
cality;  for  this  reason  he  voted  to  abolish  the 
mint  at  Dahlonega,  in  his  own  State.. 

Mr.  Toombs  opposed  the  policy  of  buying  the 
outstanding  debt  at  a  premium.  He  criticised 
Senator  Simon  Cameron  for  asking  that  the  gov 
ernment  give  employment  to  50,000  laborers  out 
of  work.  He  said,  "  Sir,  government  cannot  do  it 
and  never  did  do  it.  There  never  was  a  govern 
ment  in  the  world  which  did  not  ruin  the  people 
they  attempted  to  benefit  by  such  a  course.  Gov 
ernments  do  not  regulate  wao;es." 

o  o 

Senator  Toombs  contended  that  the  Postal  De 
partment  stood  on  a  different  footing  from  the 
army  and  navy.  Postal  service,  he  thought,  was 
no  part  of  the  national  duty.  "  It  is  of  no  more 
importance  to  the  people  of  the  United  States 


198  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

that  this  government  should  carry  my  letters  than 
that  it  should  carry  my  cotton."  He  claimed  that 
he  had  some  old-fashioned  ideas,  but  they  were 
innate.  "  I  do  not  think  it  right,  before  God,  for 
me  to  make  another  man  pay  my  expenses." 

In  discussing  the  financial  report,  he  said,  "  You 
have  as  much  time  to  appropriate  money  intelli 
gently  as  you  have  to  give  it  lavishly.  While 
there  is  a  general  cry  for  retrenchment,  when  any 
practical  movement  is  made,  the  answer  always  is 
that  this  is  not  the  right  time  or  the  right  place. 
I  am  afraid  we  shall  never  find  the  right  time,  or 
the  right  place,  until  the  popular  revolution  be 
comes  strong  enough  to  send  here  men  who  will 
do  the  public  business  better  than  we  have  done 
it." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ELECTION    OF    LINCOLN. 

IN  the  election  of  November,  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln 
received  1,857,610  votes,  and  the  combined  opposi 
tion  2,787,780  votes,  the  successful  candidate  being 
in  a  minority  of  nearly  a  million  votes.  The  new 
House  of  Representatives  was  Democratic,  and  the 
Senate  had  n&t  been  won  over  to  the  antislavery 
party.  But  the  trend  of  Northern  politics  was 
unmistakably  toward  the  extinction  of  slavery. 
As  Mr.  Lincoln  said  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Stephens : 
"  You  think  slavery  is  right  and  ought  to  be  ex 
tended,  while  we  think  it  is  wrong  and  ought  to 
be  restricted.  There,  I  suppose,  is  the  rub."  Mr. 
Buchanan's  message  to  Congress  was  full  of  con- 

O  o 

servative  counsel,  but  the  Northern  pressure  was 
too  strong.  His  Cabinet  w^as  soon  dissolved, 
and  the  places  of  Southern  men  were  taken  by 
Northern  representatives,  whose  influence  was  not 
assuring  to  Southern  people. 

Just  before  his  departure  for  Congress  Mr. 
Toornbs,  in  •  response  to  an  invitation,  wrote  a  con 
servative  letter  to  his  constituents  in  Danburg, 
Wilkes  County,  Ga.  It  bore  date  of  December 

199 


200  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

13,  1860.  The  General  Assembly  of  Georgia  liad 
unanimously  passed  a  resolution  calling  for  a  State 
convention  to  meet  on  January  16,  1861.  Mr. 
Toombs  took  the  ground  that  separation,  sooner  or 
later,  was  inevitable.  The  time  when  the  remedy 
was  to  be  applied  was  the  point  of  difference.  He 
opposed  delay  longer  than  March  4,  but  declared 
that  he  would  certainly  yield  that  point  "to 
earnest  and  honest  men  who  are  with  me  in  prin 
ciple  but  are  more  hopeful  of  redress  from  the 
aggressors  than  I  am.  To  go  beyond  March  4, 
we  should  require  such  preliminary  measures  to 
be  taken  as  would,  with  reasonable  certainty,  lead 
to  adequate  redress,  and  in  the  meantime,  we 
should  take  care  that  the  delay  gives  no  advan 
tage  to  the  adversary."  Mr.  Toombs  declared 
that  he  believed  the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  to 
ultimately  abolish  slavery  in  the  States,  by  driv 
ing  slavery  out  of  the  Territories,  by  abrogating 
Fugitive-slave  laws,  and  by  protecting  those  who 
stole  slaves  and  incited  insurrections.  The  only 
way  to  remedy  these  evils,  in  the  Union,  was  by 
such  constitutional  amendments  as  can  be  neither 
resisted  nor  evaded.  "  If  the  Republican  party 
votes  for  the  amendments,  we  may  postpone  final 
action.  This  will  be  putting  planks  where  they 
are  good  for  something.  A  cartload  of  new  planks 
in  the  party  platform  will  not  redress  one  wrong 
nor  protect  one  right." 


ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN.  201 

As  strono-  and  unmistakable  as  this  letter  seemed, 

O 

the  great  body  of  the  people  of  Georgia  did  not 
think  it  sufficiently  aggressive.  Secession  now 
amounted  to  a  furor.  It  was  not  the  work  of 
leaders,  but  the  spirit  which  pervaded  the  ranks 
of  the  people,  who  clamored  because  events  did 
not  move  fast  enough.  The  " minute-men"  de 
clared  Mr.  Toombs'  letter  was  a  backdown.  They 
called  him  a*  traitor,  and  wanted  to  vote  him  a  tin 
sword. 

Congress,  upon  reassembling,  devoted  itself  to 
measures  of  compromise.  The  situation  was  one 
of  the  deepest  gravity.  In  the  House  a  committee 
of  thirty-three  was  raised,  and  in  the  Senate  a  com 
mittee  of  thirteen,  to  look  into  the  situation.  But 
there  was  no  Henry  Clay  to  interpose,  with  tact 
and  broad  statesmanship,  at  the  supreme  moment. 

Twice  before  in  our  history,  the  "  Great  Pacifi 
cator  "  had  proven  equal  to  a  desperate  emergency. 
Adjusting  the  tariff  in  1832  when  South  Carolina 
threatened  nullification,  he  had  kept  the  peace  be 
tween  Calhoun  and  Jackson.  Proposing  his  om 
nibus  bill  in  1850,  he  had  silenced  all  calls  for 
disunion  by  the  territorial  concession.  Equally 
lacking  was  the  example  of  Webster  to  face  the 
prejudices  of  the  North  and  calm  the  apprehen 
sions  of  the  South.  Perhaps  it  was  because  these 
men  had  postponed  the  conflict  then  that  it  reap 
peared  now  with  irrepressible  power. 


202  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

The  House  Committee  reported  propositions  to 
amend  the  Fugitive-slave  laws,  and  accepted  Mr. 
Toombs7  demand  that  a  law  should  be  enacted  by 
which  all  offenses  against  slave  property,  by  per 
sons  fleeing  to  other  States,  should  be  tried  where 
the  offense  was  committed. 

Mr.  Toombs  was  a  member  of  the  committee  of 
thirteen  in  the  Senate.  The  five  Southern  mem 
bers  submitted  the  Crittenden  Compromise,  de 
manding  six  .amendments  to  the  Constitution. 
These  recognized  slavery  south  of  the  old  Missouri 
line,  prohibited  interference  by  Congress  with 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  with  trans 
portation  of  slaves  from  one  State  to  another,  and 
provided  for  the  payment  for  fugitive  slaves 
in  cases  where  the  marshal  was  prevented  from 
arresting  said  fugitive.  The  sixth  amendment 
guaranteed  the  permanence  of  these  provisions. 

The  House  adopted  the  report  of  the  committee 
of  thirty-three.  In  the  Senate  a  resolution  was 
adopted  declaring  that  the  provisions  of  the  Con 
stitution  were  already  ample  for  the  preservation 
of  the  Union ;  that  it  needed  to  be  obeyed  rather 
than  amended.  This,  upon  a  test  vote  of  twenty- 
five  to  twenty-three,  was  substituted  for  the  Crit 
tenden  Compromise.  Mr.  Toombs  and  five  other 
Democratic  members  refused  to  vote,  as  they  ap 
propriately  declared  that  no  measure  could  be  of 
value  to  the  South,  unless  it  had  the  support  of 


ELECTION  OF  LINCOLN.  203 

Republican  senators  from  the  North.  They  sat 
still  and  waited  to  see  whether  those  senators  of 
fered  any  guarantees.  The  twenty-live  votes 
showed  that  the  Republicans  were  not  in  a  con 
ciliatory  mood.  This,  in  the  opinion  of  Senator 
Toombs,  was  conclusive  that  the  best  interests  of 
the  South  lay  in  immediate  separation. 

Once  convinced  that  this  was  the  proper  course, 
Senator  Toombs  bent  all  his  powers  to  bring  about 
that  result.  He  saw  that  if  the  Southern  States 
must  secede,  the  quicker  they  did  so  the  better. 
If  the  North  cared  to  recall  them,  a  vigorous  policy 
would  react  more  promptly  upon  the  Republi- 
cans.  He  did  not  go  into  this  movement  with 
foreboding  or  half-heartedness.  There  was  no 
mawkish  sentiment — no  melancholy  in  his  make 
up.  His  convictions  mastered  him,  and  his 
energy  moved  him  to  redoubled  effort.  On  the 
22d  of  December  he  sent  his  famous  telegram  to 
his  "fellow-citizens  of  Georgia."  He  recited  that 
his  resolutions  had  been  treated  with  derision 
and  contempt  by  the  Republican  members  of  the 
committee  of  thirteen.  The  amendments  proposed 
by  Mr.  Crittenden  had  "  each  and  all  of  them  been 
voted  against  unanimously  by  the  Republican 
members  of  the  committee."  These  members  had 
also  declared  that  they  had  no  guarantees  to  offer. 
He  believed  that  the  House  Committee  only  sought 
to  amuse  the  South  with  delusive  hope,  "  until 


204  ROBERT  TOO  MBS. 

your  election,  in  order  that  you  may  defeat  the 
friends  of  secession.  If  you  are  deceived  by  them 
it  shall  not  be  my  fault.  I  have  put  the  test  fairly 
and  frankly.  It  has  been  decided  against  you, 
and  now  I  tell  you  upon  the  faith  of  a  true  man, 
that  all  further  looking  to  the  North  for  security 
for  your  constitutional  rights  in  the  Union,  ought 
to  be  instantly  abandoned.  It  is  fraught  with 
nothing  but  menace  to  yourselves  and  your  party. 
Secession  by  the  4th  of  March  next  should  be 
thundered  forth  from  the  ballot-box  by  the  united 
voice  of  Georgia.  Such  a  voice  will  be  your  best 
guaranty  for  liberty,  security,  tranquillity,  and 
glory." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

FAREWELL    TO    THE    SENATE. 

ON  the  7th  of  January,  1861,  Eobert  Toombs 
delivered  his  farewell  speech  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  It  received  profound  attention.  It  was 
full  of  brief  sentences  and  bristling  points.  In 
epigrammatic  power,  it  was  the  strongest  summary 
of  the  demands  of  the  South.  As  Mr.  Elaine  said, 
it  was  the  only  speech  made  by  a  congressman 
from  the  seceding  States  which  specified  the 
grievances  of  the  South  and  which  named  the 
conditions  upon  which  the  States  would  stay  in 
the  Union.  Other  Senators  regarded  secession  as 
a  fixed  fact.  Mr.  Toombs  declared  what,  in  his 
opinion,  would  prevent  it.  And  yet,  as  he  stood 
at  his  desk,  where  for  seven  years  he  had  been  a 
recognized  leader,  his  earnestness  and  deliberation 
revealed  a  man  whose  hand  did  not  hesitate  to 
lead  a  revolt  and  whose  heart  did  not  fail  in  the 
face  of  a  certain  revolution.  He  acted  up  to  his 
own  words,  repeated  a  short  while  later :  u  He  who 
dallies  is  a  dastard  ;  he  who  doubts  is  damned." 

This  speech  was  bold,  succinct,  definite.  "  Sena 
tors,"  said  Mr.  Toombs,  "my  countrymen  have 


205 


206  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

demanded  no  new  government.  They  have  de 
manded  no  new  Constitution.  The  discontented 
States  have  demanded  nothing  but  clear,  distinct, 
constitutional  rights,  rights  older  than  the  Consti 
tution.  What  do  these  rebels  demand?  First, 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  shall  have  an 
equal  right  to  emigrate  and  settle  in  the  Terri 
tories  with  whatever  property  (including  slaves) 
they  may  possess.  Second,  that  property  in  slaves 
shall  be  entitled  to  the  same  protection  from  the 
government  as  any  other  property  (leaving  the 
State  the  right  to  prohibit,  protect,  or  abolish 
slavery  within  its  limits).  Third,  that  persons 
committing  crimes  against  slave  property  in  one 
State  and  flying  to  another  shall  be  given  up. 
Fourth,  that  fugitive  slaves  shall  be  surrendered. 
Fifth,  that  Congress  shall  pass  laws  for  the  pun 
ishment  of  all  persons  who  shall  aid  and  abet  inva 
sion  and  insurrection  in  any  other  State." 

He  said  :  "  We  demand  these  five  propositions. 
Are  they  not  right  ?  Are  they  not  just  ?  We  will 
pause  and  consider  them ;  but,  mark  me,  we  will 
not  let  you  decide  the  questions  for  us.  I  have 
little  care  to  dispute  remedies  with  you  unless  you 
propose  to  redress  our  wrongs. 

"  But-  no  matter  what  may  be  our  grievances, 
the  honorable  senator  from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Crit- 
tenden)  says  we  cannot  secede.  Well,  what  can 
we  do  ?  We  cannot  revolutionize.  He  will  say 


FAREWELL   TO   THE  SENATE.  207 

that  is  treason.  What  can  we  do  ?  Submit  ? 
They  say  they  are  the  strongest  and  they  will 
hang  us.  Veiy  well !  I  suppose  we  are  to  be 
thankful  for  that  boon.  We  will  take  that  risk. 
We  will  stand  by  the  right;  we  will  take  the 
Constitution  ;  we  will  defend  it  with  the  sword, 
with  the  halter  around  our  necks.  Will  that 
satisfy  the  honorable  senator  from  Kentucky? 
You  cannot  intimidate  my  constituents  by  talking 
to  them  of  treason. 

"  You  will  not  regard  confederate  obligations ; 
you  will  not  regard  constitutional  obligations; 
you  will  not  regard  your  oaths.  What,  then,  am 
I  to  do?  Am  I  a  freeman?  Is  my  State  a  free 
State  ?  We  are  freemen ;  we  have  rights ;  I  have 
stated  them.  We  have  wrongs ;  I  have  re 
counted  them.  I  have  demonstrated  that  the  party 
now  coming  into  power  has  declared  us  outlaws, 
and  is  determined  to  exclude  thousands  of  millions 
of  our  property  from  the  common  territory ;  that 
it  has  declared  us  under  the  ban  of  the  Union,  and 
out  of  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  everywhere.  They  have  refused  to  protect 
us  from  invasion  and  insurrection  by  the  Federal 
power,  and  the  Constitution  denies  to  us,  in  the 
Union,  the  right  to  raise  fleets  and  armies  for  our 
own  defense.  All  these  charges  I  have  proven  by 
the  record;  and  I  put  them  before  the  civilized 
world  and  demand  the  judgment  of  to-day,  of  to- 


208  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

morrow,  of  distant  ages,  and  of  Heaven  itself  upon 
the  justice  of  these  causes.  I  am  content,  what- 
ever  it  be,  to  peril  all  in  so  holy  a  cause.  We 
have  appealed,  time  and  again,  for  these  constitu 
tional  rights.  You  have  refused  them.  We  ap 
peal  again.  Restore  us  those  rights  as  we  had 
them ;  as  your  Court  adjudges  them  to  be ;  just  as 
our  people  have  said  they  are.  Redress  these  fla 
grant  wrongs — seen  of  all  men — and  it  will  restore 
fraternity,  and  unity,  and  peace  to  us  all.  Refuse 
them,  and  what  then  ?  We  shall  then  ask  you, 
'Let  us  depart  in  peace.'  Refuse  that,  and  you 
present  us  war.  We  accept  it,  and,  inscribing 
upon  our  banners  the  glorious  words,  '  Liberty  and 
Equality,'  we  will  trust  to  the  blood  of  the  brave 
and  the  God  of  battles  for  security  and  tran 
quillity." 

This  speech  created  wide  attention.  It  closed 
the  career  of  Robert  Toombs  as  a  member  of  the 
national  councils.  For  sixteen  years  he  had 
served  in  the  two  Houses  in  Washington,  holding 
his  rank  among  the  first  men  in  the  country. 

He  was  then  fifty-one  years  old,  full  of  strength 
and  confidence.  His  leadership  among  Southern 
men  was  undisputed ;  his  participation  in  public 
business  had  been  long  and  honorable ;  upon  mat 
ters  of  home  and  foreign  policy  his  word  had  been 
law  in  the  Senate ;  his  influence  had  been  prepon 
derating. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

TOOMBS    AND    SECESSION. 

ON  the  16th  of  January,  the  State  Sovereignty 
convention  met  in  Milledgeville,  Ga.  The  elec 
tion  had  taken  place  shortly  after  the  delivery  of 
Senator  Toombs'  farewell  address,  and  Georgia  had 
answered  to  his  call  in  the  election  of  delegates  by 
giving  a  vote  of  50,243  in  favor  of  secession,  and 
39,123  against  it.  The  convention  was  presided 
over  by  George  W.  Crawford,  who  had  lived  in 
retirement  since  the  death  of  President  Taylor  in 
1850,  and  who  was  called  on  to  lend  his  prestige 
and  influance  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  his  State. 
The  convention  went  into  secret  session,  and  when 
the  doors  were  opened,  Hon.  Eugenius  A.  Ms- 
bet  of  Bibb  offered  a  resolution,  "That  in  the 
opinion  of  this  convention,  it  is  the  right  and  duty 
of  Georgia  to  secede  from  the  Union."  On  the 
passage  of  this,  the  yeas  were  165  and  the  noes 
130.  Mr.  Toombs  voted  "yes,"  and  Messrs.  Hill, 
Johnson,  and  Stephens,  "  no."  Next  day  the  com 
mittee  of  seventeen,  through  Judge  Nisbet,  re 
ported  the  Ordinance  of  Secession.  It  was  short  and 
pointed  ;  it  simply  declared  that  the  people  of  the 

209 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 


State  of  Georgia,  in  convention  assembled,  repealed 
the  ordinance  of  1788,  whereby  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  was  ratified  and  adopted. 
The  Union  was  declared  dissolved,  so  far  as  the 
State  of  Georgia  was  concerned,  and  the  State  to 
be  in  full  possession  of  all  those  rights  of  sover 
eignty  that  belonged  to  a  free  and  independent 
State.  On  the  passage  of  this  ordinance,  the  yeas 
were  208,  and  the  noes,  89.  Messrs.  Toombs  and 
Hill  "  yes,"  and  Mr.  Stephens  "  no."  At  2.15  p.  M. 
on  the  19th  of  January,  a  signal  gun  was  fired,  and 
the  "  Stars  and  Stripes  "  lowered  from  the  State 
Capitol.  One  moment  later,  the  white  colonial 
flag  of  Georgia  fluttered  to  the  winds,  and  the 
State  was  in  uproar.  The  news  flashed  to  the 
utmost  corners  of  the  commonwealth.  Guns  were 
fired,  bells  rung,  and  men  were  beside  themselves. 
The  night  only  intensified  this  carnival  of  joy. 
There  were  some  men  who  shook  their  heads  and 
doubted  the  wisdom  -of  this  step,  and  there  were 
women  and  little  children  who  regarded  these  dem 
onstrations  with  awe.  They  did  not  comprehend 
what  was  meant  by  "  going  out  of  the  Union,"  and 
by  some  inscrutable  instinct  feared  the  result  of  such 
an  act.  The  old  Union  sentiment  was,  perhaps, 
stronger  in  Georgia  than  in  any  other  Southern 
State.  Georgia  was  the  youngest  of  the  thirteen 
States,  the  last  of  the  commonwealth  to  come  into 
the  national  compact.  Her  charter  from  the  Crown 


TOOMBS  AND  SECESSION.  211 

had  originally  barred  slavery  from  her  limits,  but 
the  success  of  the  institution  in  Carolina,  the  prog 
ress  of  other  States  in  subduing  land  and  in  cul 
tivating  indigo  and  tobacco  in  the  Southern  sa 
vannas,  rendered  white  labor  unavailable,  and 
left  Georgia  a  laggard  in  the  work  of  the  younger 
colonies.  Finally,  slaves  were  admitted,  and  com 
merce  and  agriculture  seemed  to  thrive.  But  if 
the  State  had  preserved  its  original  charter  restric 
tions,  it  is  not  certain  that,  even  then,  the  Union 
sentiment  would  have  prevailed.  As  Senator 
Toornbs  had  declared :  "  The  question  of  slavery 
moves  not  the  people  of  Georgia  one-half  so  much 
as  the  fact  that  you  insult  their  rights  as  a  com 
munity.  Abolitionists  are  right  when  they  say 
that  there  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
people  in  Georgia  who  do  not  own  slaves.  A  very 
large  portion  of  the  people  of  Georgia  own  none 
of  them.  In  the  mountains  there  are  but  a  few  of 
them ;  but  no  part  of  our  people  is  more  loyal  to 
race  and  country  than  our  bold  and  hardy  moun 
tain  population,  and  every  flash  of  the  electric 
wire  brings  me  cheering;  news  from  our  moun- 

o  o 

tain-tops  and  our  valleys  that  these  sons  of  Georgia 
are  excelled  by  none  of  their  countrymen  in  loyalty 
to  their  rights,  the  honor  and  glory  of  the  com 
monwealth.  They  say,  and  well  say,  this  is  our 
question :  we  want  no  negro  equality ;  no  negro 
citizenship ;  we  want  no  mongrel  race  to  degrade 


212  ROBERT  TOO  MBS. 

our  own,  and,  as  one  man,  they  would  meet 
upon  the  border  with  the  sword  in  one  hand  and 
the  torch  in  the  other.  They  will  tell  you, '  When 
we  choose  to  abolish  this  thing  (slavery),  it  must 
be  done  under  our  direction,  according  to  our  will. 
Our  own,  our  native  land  shall  determine  this 
question,  and  not  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North.' 
That  is  the  spirit  of  our  freemen." 

The  spirit  of  the  people  was  plainly  manifested 
by  the  zeal  and  ardor  of  Thomas  B,.  R.  Cobb. 
He  was  a  young  man  who  went  into  the  secession 
movement  with  lofty  enthusiasm.  He  had  all  the 
ardor  and  religious  fervor  of  a  crusader.  He  had 
never  held  public  office,  and  had  taken  no  hand  in 
politics  until  the  time  came  for  Georgia  to  secede. 
He  was  the  younger  brother  of  Ho  well  Cobb.  He 
declared  that  what  Mr.  Stephens  said  was  the  de 
termining  sentiment  of  the  hour,  that  "  Georgia 

O  /  o 

could  make  better  terms  out  of  the  Union  than  in 
it."  The  greater  part  of  the  people,  was  fired  with 
this  fervor,  which  they  felt  to  be  patriotic.  Gray- 
bearded  men  vied' with  the  hot  blood  of  youth,  and 
a  venerable  citizen  of  Augusta,  illuminating  his 
residence  from  dome  to  cellar,  blazoned  with 
candles  this  device  upon  his  gateway — "  Georgia, 
right  or  wrong — Georgia ! "  Never  was  a  move 
ment  so  general,  so  spontaneous.  Those  who 
charged  the  leaders  of  that  day  with  precipitating 
their  States  into  revolution  upon  a  wild  dream  of 


TOO  MBS  AND  SECESSION.  213 

power,  did  not  know  the  spirit  and  the  temper 
of  the  people  who  composed  that  movement. 
Northern  men  who  had  moved  South  and  engaged 
in  business,  as  a  general  thing,  stood  shoulder  to 
shoulder  with  their  Southern  brethren,  and  went 
out  with  the  companies  that  first  responded  to  the 
call  to  war.  The  South  sacrificed  much,  in  a 
material  point  of  view,  in  going  into  civil  conflict. 
In  the  decade  between  1850  and  1860,  the  wealth 
of  the  South  had  increased  three  billions  of  dollars, 
and  Georgia  alone  had  shown  a  growth  measured 
by  two  hundred  millions.  Her  aggregate  wealth 
at  the  time  she  passed  the  Ordinance  of  Secession 
was  six  hundred  and  seventy-two  millions,  double 
what  it  is  to-day.  In  one  year  her  increase  was 
sixty-two  millions.  Business  of  all  kinds  was  pros 
pering.  But  her  people  did  not  count  the  cost 
when  they  considered  that  their  rights  were  in 
vaded.  Georgia  was  the  fifth  State  to  secede. 
South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  Florida 
had  preceded  her.  Of  the  six  States  which  formed 
the  Provisional  Government,  Georgia  had  relatively 
a  smaller  number  of  slaves  than  any,  and  her  State 
debt  was  only  a  little  more  than  two  and  a  half 
millions  of  dollars.  Her  voting  population  was 
barely  1 00,000  Jbut  she  furnished,  when  the  test 
c^me71-20^500soTdiers  to  the  Confederate  army. 

As  £,   contemporary   print  of   those   times  re 
marked,  "The   Secession  convention  of   Georgia 


214  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

was  not  divided  upon  the  subject  of  rights  or 
wrongs,  but  of  remedies."  Senator  Toombs  de 
clared  that  the  convention  had  sovereign  powers, 
"  limited  only  by  God  and  the  right."  This  policy 
opened  the  way  to  changing  the  great  seal  and 
adopting  a  new  flag.  Mr.  Toombs  was  made 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  Foreign  Relations 
and  became  at  once  Prime  Minister  of  the  young 
Republic.  He  offered  a  resolution  providing  that 
a  congress  of  seceded  States  be  called  to  meet  in 
Montgomery  on  the  4th  of  February.  He  ad 
monished  the  convention  that,  as  it  had  destroyed 
one  government,  it  was  its  pressing  duty  to  build 
up  another.  It  was  at  his  request  that  commis 
sioners  were  appointed  from  Georgia  to  the  other 
States  in  the  South.  Mr.  Toombs  also  introduced 
a  resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted, 
"  That  the  Convention  highly  approves  the  ener 
getic  and  patriotic  conduct  of  Governor  Brown  in 
seizing  Fort  Pulaski." 

The  Ordinance  of  Secession  was,  on  the  31st  of 
January,  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  conven 
tion,  in  the  open  air,  in  the  Capitol  grounds.  The 
scene  was  solemn  and  impressive.  Six  delegates 
entered  their  protests,  but  pledged  "their  lives, 
their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor  "  in  defense 
of  Georgia  against  coercion  and  invasion. 

O  O 

When  the  time  came  for  the  election  of  dele 
gates  to  the  Provisional  Congress  at  Montgomery, 


TOOMBS  AND  SECESSION.  215 

Robert  Toombs  was  unanimously  selected  as  the 
first  deputy  from  the  State  at  large.  His  col 
league,  Howell  Cobb,  was  chosen  on  the  third 
ballot.  The  district  selected  Francis  S.  Bartow, 
Martin  J.  Crawford,  E.  A.  Nisbet,  B.  H.  Hill, 
A.  E.  Wright,  Thomas  E.  R.  Cobb,  A.  II.  Kennan, 
and  A.  H.  Stephens. 

The  address  to  the  people  of  Georgia  adopted 
by  this  convention,  was  written  by  Mr.  Toombs. 
It  recited  that  "  our  people  are  still  attached  to 
the  Union  from  habit,  national  tradition,  and 
aversion  to  change."  The  address  alluded  to  our 
"Northern  Confederates"  and  declared  that  the 
issue  had  been  "  deliberately  forced  by  the  North 
and  deliberately  accepted  by  the  South.  We  re 
fuse  to  submit  to  the  verdict  of  the  North,  and 
in  vindication  we  offer  the  Constitution  of  our 
country.  The  people  of  Georgia  have  always  been 
willing  to  stand  by  this  compact ;  but  they  know 
the  value  of  parchment  rights  in  treacherous 
hands."  The  report  charged  that  the  North  had 
outlawed  three  thousand  millions  of  our  property, 
put  it  under  a  ban,  and  would  subject  us,  not  only 
to  a  loss  of  our  property,  but  to  destruction  of  our 
homes  and  firesides.  It  concludes:  "To  avoid 
these  evils,  we  withdraw  the  powers  that  our 
fathers  delegated  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  and  henceforth  seek  new  safeguards  for  our 
liberty,  security,  and  tranquillity." 


216  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1861,  forty-two  dele 
gates  met  at  Montgomery,  Ala.  The  States  of 
Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
and  South  Carolina  were  represented.  Howell 
Cobb  of  Georgia  was  chosen  President  of  the 
Provisional  Congress.  Mr.  Stephens  said  it  was 
the  most  intellectual  body  of  men  he  had  ever 
seen.  One  of  the  first  duties  of  this  convention 
was  to  elect  a  President  and  vice  president  of  the 
new  Confederacy.  All  eyes  were  turned  to 
Robert  Toombs.  It  was  by  common  consent 
agreed  that  Georgia,  owing  to  her  commanding 
position,  her  prominence  in  the  movement,  and 
her  wealth  of  great  men,  should  furnish  the  Presi- 
(Jent.  Toombs  towered  even  above  the  members 
of  that  convention.  Bold,  imperious,  and  brainy, 
he  had  guided  the  revolution  without  haste  or 
heat,  and  his  conservative  course  in  the  Georgia 
convention  had  silenced  those  critics  who  had 
called  him  "the  genius  of  the  revolution,"  but 
denied  to  him  the  constructive  power  to  build 
upon  the  ruins  he  had  made.  He  had,  in  the 
choice  of  delegates  to  the  Provisional  Congress, 
boldly  advocated  the  election  of  Mr.  Stephens  from 
his  own  district,  although  the  latter  was  a  Union 
man  and,  at  that  time,  was  not  on  good  terms 
with  Toombs.  Toombs  declared  that  Alexander 
Stephens  was  a  patriot  notwithstanding  his  views 
against  secession.  He  had  secured  the  recommit- 


TOOMBS  AND  SECESSION.  217 

ment  of  a  dangerous  resolution  upon  slavery  which, 
he  declared,  would  injure  the  South  by  the  an 
nouncement  of  an  ultra  policy.     He  had  written  a 
very    conservative   letter   to   Senator   Crittenden. 
He  had  been  a  prominent  Secessionist,  and  had 
contemplated  the  movement  as  unavoidable  when 
men  were  talking  with  bated  breath.     But  in  the 
opening  of  the  revolution,  he  had  proven  a  safe 
counselor.     Mr.  Toombs  was  approached,  and  an 
nounced  that  he  would  accept  the  presidency  if  it 
were  offered  with  unanimity.     He  was  surprised 
to  learn  that  the  delegates  from  four  States  had 
agreed  on  Jefferson  Davis.     When  this  report  was 
confirmed,  Mr.  Toombs,  ignorant  of  the  real  cause 
of  this  sudden  change  of  sentiment,  forbade  further 
canvass  of  his  own  claims,  and  cordially  seconded 
the  nomination  of  Mr.  Davis.     Mr.  Toombs  was  a 
man  of  rare   magnanimity.      He    was  absolutely 
without  envy  or  resentment,  and  turning  to  Mr. 
Stephens,  pressed  him  to  accept  second  place  on 
the  ticket.     The  announcement  of  a  Georgian  for 
vice   president   effectually   disposed   of    his   own 
chance  for  the  presidency.     The  fact  was  that  Mr. 
Toombs  was  the  first  choice  of  Georgia,  as  he  was 
thought  to  be  of  Florida,  Carolina,  and  Louisiana. 
Jefferson  Davis  had  not  been  presented  by  Missis 
sippi.     He  had  been  selected  by  that  State  as  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  military  forces  and  him 
self  preferred  a  military  station.     He  was  not  in 


218  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Montgomery  when  his  nomination  was  confirmed. 
A  messenger  had  to  be  dispatched  to  inform  him 
of  his  election  as  President  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America, 

The  sudden  selection  of  Mr.  Davis  by  four 
States  probably  carries  a  bit  of  secret  history. 
Old  party  antagonisms  arose  at  the  last  moment  to 
confront  the  candidacy  of  Mr.  Toombs.  Toombs 
had  summarily  left  the  Whig  party  in  1850,  to 
join  the  great  Constitutional  Union  movement. 
Jefferson  Davis  had  always  been  a  States'  Rights 
Democrat,  and  had  been  defeated  for  Governor  of 
Mississippi  by  the  Constitutional  Union  party. 
Thus  it  would  seem  that,  at  the  eleventh  hour, 
party  lines  were  drawn  against  Eobert  Toombs, 
and  his  boast  that  he  had  saved  the  Union  in 
1850  probably  cost  him  the  presidency  of  the  new 
republic.  There  was  a  story,  credited  in  some 
quarters,  that  Mi\  Toombs7  convivial  conduct  at  a 
dinner  party  in  Montgomery  estranged  from  him 
some  of  the  more  conservative  delegates,  who  did 
not  realize  that  a  man  like  Toombs  had  versatile 
and  reserved  powers,  and  that  Toombs  at  the  ban= 
quet  board  was  another  sort  of  a  man  from 
Toombs  in  a  deliberative  body. 

At  all  events,  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Con 
federacy  was  set  aside,  and  with  rare  unanimity 
the  election  of  officers  was  accepted  with  unselfish 
patriotism. 


TOOMttS  AND  SECESSION.  219 

At  that  time  a  curious  and  remarkable  incident 
in  the  life  of  Mr.  Toombs  was  related.  Within 
thirty  days  he  had  performed  journeys  to  the  ex 
tent  of  fifteen  hundred  miles,  largely  by  private 
conveyance,  and  during  that  brief  period  he  served 
under  four  distinct  governments :  as  senator  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  delegate 
from  his  native  county  (Wilkes)  to  the  convention 
of  the  sovereign  republic  of  Georgia,  as  deputy 
from  his  State  to  the  Congress  of  seceding  States, 
which  instituted  a  Provisional  Government,  and 
finally  in  the  permanent  government  which  he 
aided  in  framing  for  the  Confederate  States  of 
America. 

In  the  perfection  of  a  permanent  government 
and  the  new-molding  of  a  Constitution,  Mr.  Toombs 
was  now  diligently  engaged.  The  principal 
changes  brought  about  by  him  may  be  briefly 
recalled.  It  was  specified,  in  order  to  cut  off 
lobby  agents,  that  Congress  should  grant  no  extra 
compensation  to  any  contractor  after  the  service 
was  rendered.  This  item  originated  with  Mr. 
Toombs,  who  had  noted  the  abuses  in  the  Federal 
Government.  Congress  was  authorized  to  grant 
to  the  principal  officer  of  each  of  the  executive 
departments  a  seat  upon  -the  fioor  of  either  house, 
without  a  vote,  but  with  the  privilege  of  dis 
cussing  any  measure  relating  to  his  department. 
This  was  an  old  idea  of  Mr.  Toombs,  and  during 


20  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

his  visit  abroad,  "he  had  attended  sessions  of  the  Brit 
ish  Parliament  in  company  with  Mr.  Buchanan,  then 
Minister  to  England.  He  had  been  impressed 
with  the  value  of  the  presence  in  Parliament  of 
the  Ministers  themselves.  During  a  debate  in  the 
United  States  Senate  in  1859,  Mr.  Toombs  had 
said :  "  My  own  opinion  is  that  it  would  be  a  great 
improvement  on  our  system  if  the  Cabinet  officers 
should  be  on  the  floor  of  both  Houses,  and  should 
participate  in  the  debate ;  I  have  no  doubt  that  we 
should  thus  get  rid  of  one  of  the  greatest  difficul 
ties  in  our  Constitution." 

Mr.  Toombs  also  incorporated  into  the  organic 
law  a  prohibition  of  the  payment  of  bounties  and 
of  the  internal  improvement  system.  There  was 
a  tax  upon  navigation  for  harbors,  buoys,  and  bea 
cons,  but  this  was  adjusted  upon  the  Toombs 
principle  of  taxing  the  interest  for  which  the 
burden  was  levied.  Mr.  Toombs  was  made  chair 
man  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Provisional 
Congress.  This  appointment  was  received  with 
general  satisfaction.  His  long  legislative  expe 
rience,  his,  genius  for  finance,  and  his  executive 
power,  fitted  him  for  this  position.  To  provide 
ways  and  means  for  the  new  nation  which  was,  as 
yet,  without  resources  or  a  system  of  taxation,  in 
volved  no  little  difficulty.  It  was  important  that 
the  young  Confederacy  should  exhibit  resources 
sufficient  to  equip  her  armies  and  maintain  herself 


TOOMBS  AND  SECESSION.  221 

before  she  could  sue  for  independence  or  foreign 
recognition.  It  was  for  these  admitted  qualities 
of  Mr.  Toombs.  for  details  and  management,  that 
President  Davis  preferred  him  to  take  the  position 
of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Next  to  the  presi 
dency  this  was  his  real  place,  but  it  was  suggested 
that  a  man  like  Toombs  deserved  the  first  position 
in  the  new  Cabinet.  A  telegram  from  President 
Davis,  offering  him  the  portfolio  of  Secretary  of 
State,  reached  Mr.  Toombs  in  Augusta.  He  at 
first  declined,  but  being  urged  by  Mr.  Stephens, 
finally  consented  to  serve.  The  Cabinet  was  then 
made  up  as  follows.  Robert  Toombs  of  Georgia, 
Secretary  of  State.;  C.  G-.  Memrninger  of  South 
Carolina,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  L.  P.  Walker 
of  Alabama,  Secretary  of  War;  J.  H.  Pveagan  of 
Texas,  Postmaster-General;  J.  P.  Benjamin  of 
Louisiana,  Attorney-General;  S.  B.  Mallory  of 
Florida,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

TOOMBS    AS    PREMIER    OF    THE    CONFEDERACY. 


of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  Confederate 
Government  was  to  send  three  commissioners  to 
Washington.  John  Forsyth  of  Alabama,  Martin 
J.  Crawford  of  Georgia,  and  A.  B.  Roman  of  Loui 
siana,  were  intrusted  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr.  Toombs,  with  a  speedy  adjustment  of  ques 
tions  growing  out  of  the  political  revolution,  upon 
such  terms  of  amity  and  good  will  as  would 
guarantee  the  future  welfare  of  the  two  sections. 
Mr.  Toombs  instructed  Mr.  Crawford,  whom  he 
had  especially  persuaded  to  take  this  delicate 
mission,  that  he  should  pertinaciously  demand  the 
evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter  and  the  maintenance 
of  the  status  elsewrhere. 

Secretary  Seward  declined  to  receive  the  com 
missioners  in  any  diplomatic  capacity,  or  even  to 
see  them  personally.  He  acknowledged  the  re 
ceipt  of  their  communication  and  caused  the  com 
missioners  to  be  notified,  pointedly,  that  he  hoped 
they  would  not  press  him  to  reply  at  that  time. 
Mr.  Seward  was  represented  as  strongly  disposed 
in  favor  of  peace,  and  the  Confederate  Government 

222 


PREMIER  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY.  223 

was  semi-officially  informed  that  Fort  Sumter 
would  probably  be  evacuated  in  a  short  time, 
and  all  immediate  danger  of  conflict  avoided. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  such  were  Mr.  Seward's 
intentions.  lie  had  cordially  agreed  with  Gen 
eral  Winfield  Scott  that  the  possession  of  Fort 
Sumter  amounted  to  little  in  a  strategical  way, 
and  that  the  peace-loving  people,  North  and  South, 
should  not  be  driven  into  the  war  party  by  pre 
mature  shock  over  the  provisioning  of  a  fort  that 
no  Federal  force  could  have  held  for  a  week.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  Cabinet  took  this  position  and,  by  a  vote 
of  five  to  two,  favored  the  abandonment  of  Sum 
ter.  The  commissioners  \Vere  apprised  of  this 
feeling,  and  in  a  dispatch  to  Secretary  Toombs,  on 
the  20 tli  of  March,  declared  that  there  was  no 
change  in  the  status.  "  If  there  is  any  faith  in 
man,"  they  wrote,  "we  may  rely  on  the  assur 
ances  we  have  as  to  the  status.  Time  is  essential 
to  the  principal  issue  of  this  mission.  In  the 
present  posture  of  affairs,  precipitation  is  war." 

On  the  26th  of  March  the  commissioners,  hav 
ing  heard  nothing  more,  asked  the  Confederate 
Secretary  whether  they  should  delay  longer  or 
demand  an  answer  at  once.  Secretary  Toombs 
wired  them  to  wait  a  reasonable  time  and  then  ask 
for  instructions.  He  gave  them  the  views  of 
President  Davis,  who  believed  that  the  counsels 
of  Mr.  Seward  would  prevail  in  Washington. 


224  ROBERT  TOO  JIBS. 

"So  long  as  the  United  States  neither  declares 
war  nor  establishes  peace,  it  affords  the  Confeder 
ate  States  the  advantage  of  both  positions,  arid  en 
ables  them  to  make  all  necessary  arrangements  for 
public  defense  and  the  solidification  of  government 
more  safely,  cheaply,  and  expeditiously  than  if  the 
attitude  of  the  United  States  was  more  definite 
and  decided." 

Meanwhile  new  pressure  was  brought  to  bear 
on  President  Lincoln.  On  the  2d  of  April,  the 
commissioners,  who  kept  up  pretty  well  with  the 
situation,  telegraphed  Secretary  Toonibs :  "  The 
war  party  presses  on  the  President ;  he  vibrates  to 
that  side."  The  rumor  was  given  that  the  Presi 
dent  had  conferred  with  an  engineer  in  regard  to 
Fort  Surnter.  "  Watch  at  all  points."  Three  days 
later  they  telegraphed  that  the  movement  of  troops 
and  the  preparation  of  vessels  of  war  were  con 
tinued  with  great  activity.  "  The  statement  that 
the  armament  is  intended  for  San  Domingo,"  they 
said,  "may  be  a  mere  ruse."  "  Have  no  confidence 
in  this  administration.  We  say,  be  ever  on  your 

guard Glad  to  hear  you  are  ready.  The 

notice  promised  us  may  come  at  the  last  moment, 
if  the  fleet  be  intended  for  our  waters." 

On  the  6th  of  April  Governor  Pickens  of  South 
Carolina  was  informed  that  the  President  had  de 
cided  to  supply  Fort  Sumter  with  provisions,  and 
on  the  10th,  Hon.  Levi  P.  Walker,  Secretary  of 


PREMIER   OF  THE  CONFEDERACY.  225 

War  at  Montgomery,  notified  General  Beauregard, 
then  in  command  of  the  Confederate  forces  at 
Charleston,  to  demand  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Sumter,  and,  if  refused,  to  proceed  to  reduce  it. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Lincoln  Cabinet  re 
versed  its  position  about  Sumter.  The  pressure 
of  New  England  and  the  West  became  too  strong. 
What  Sumter  lacked  in  military  importance,  it 
made  up  in  political  significance.  The  Lincoln 
Government  had  already  been  taunted  with  weak 
ness  by  the  people  who  had  placed  it  in  office. 
Mr.  Lincoln  decided,  against  the  better  judgment 
of  Mr.  Seward,  to  make  the  issue  in  Charleston 
Harbor. 

Seward's  mind  was  of  finer  and  more  reflective 
cast  than  Mr.  Lincoln's.  He  had  all  the  points  of 
a  diplomatist,  ingenuity,  subtlety,  adroitness.  He 
was  temporizing  over  the  natural  antipathy  of  the 
North  to  war  and  the  probable  transient  nature  of 
the  secession  feeling  in  the  South.  At  that  very 
moment  he  was  assuring  England  and  France  that 
"  the  conservative  element  in  the  South,  which  was 
kept  under  the  surface  by  the  violent  pressure  of 
secession,  will  emerge  with  irresistible  force."  He 
believed  "  that  the  evils  and  hardships  produced 
by  secession  would  become  intolerably  grievous  to 
the  Southern  States." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  temporizing  at  all.  He  was 
looking  the  crisis  in  the  face.  What  he  wanted 


226  ROBERT  TOOMB8. 

was  support  at  the  North,  not  at  the  South.     He 
was  willing  to  force  the  fighting  at  Sumter,  know- 
ing  that  the  mere  act  of  the  Confederates  in  firing 
upon  the  flag  would  bring  to  his  aid  a  united  North. 
Secretary  Toombs  was  one  man  in  the  Mont 
gomery  Cabinet  who  was  not  deceived  by  Se ward's 
sophistries.     He  knew  the  temper  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
better  than  Mr.  Seward  did.     He  appreciated  the 
feeling  at  the  North,  and  gave  his  counsel  in  the 
Davis  Cabinet  against  the  immediate  assault  upon 
Sumter.     There  was  a  secret  session  of  the  Cabinet 
in  Montgomery.'   Toombs   was   pacing   the  floor 
during  the  discussion  over  Sumter,  his  hands  be 
hind  him,  and  his  face  wearing  that  heavy,  dreamy 
look  when  in  repose.     Facing   about,  he  turned 
upon  the  President  and  opposed  the  attack.    "  Mr. 
President,"  he  said,  «  at  this  time,  it  is  suicide,  mur 
der,  and  will  lose  us  every  friend  at  the  North. 
You  will  wantonly  strike  a  hornet's  nest  which 
extends  from  mountains  to  ocean,  and  legions,  now 
quiet,  will  swarm  out  an<J  sting  us  to  death.     It  is 
unnecessary  ;  it  puts  us  in  the  wrong  ;  it  is  fatal." 
He  clung  to  the  idea  expressed  in  his  dispatches 
to  the  commissioners,  that  "  So  long  as  the  United 
States  neither  declares  war  nor  establishes  peace, 
the  Confederate  States  have  the  advantage  of  both 
conditions."     But  just  as  President  Lincoln  over 
ruled  Secretary  Seward,  so  President  Davis  over 
ruled  Secretary  Toombs. 


PREMIER  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY.  227 

No  event  in  American  history  was  more  portent 
ous  than  the  first  gun  fired  from  Fort  Johnson  at 
1.30  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  April  12,  1861.  As 
the  shell  wound  its  graceful  curve  into  the  air  and 
fell  into  the  water  at  the  base  of  Sumter,  the  Civil 
War  was  an  accomplished  fact.  Major  Anderson 
replied  with  his  barbette  guns  from  the  fort.  He 
had  but  little  more  than  100  men,  and  early  in  the 
engagement  was  forced  to  rely  entirely  upon  his 
casemate  ordinance.  The  Confederate  forces  num 
bered  about  five  thousand,  with  thirty  guns  and 
seventeen  mortars,  and  served  their  guns  from  the 
batteries  on  Mount  Pleasant,  Cummings  Point,  and 
the  floating  battery.  Fort  Sumter  was  built  on 
an  artificial  island  at  the  mouth  of  Charleston  Har 
bor,  and  was  about  three  and  a  half  miles  from  the 
city.  It  had  cost  the  government  one  million  dol 
lars,  and  had  not  been  entirely  completed  at  the 
time  of  the  bombardment. 

The  excitement  in  Charleston  at  the  opening 
gun  was  very  great.  People  rushed  from  their 
beds  to  the  water-front,  and  men  and  women 
watched  the  great  duel  through  their  glasses. 
The  South  had  gone  into  the  war  with  all  the 
fervor  of  conviction.  The  gunners  in  Moultrie 
and  on  Morris  Island  would  leap  to  the  ramparts 
and  watch  the  effect  of  their  shots,  and  jump 
back  to  their  guns  with  a  cheer.  There  was  all 
the  pomp  and  sound,  but  few  of  the  terrors  of 


228  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

war.  On  the  morning  of  the  second  day  the 
quarters  in  the  fort  caught  fire  and  the  whole 
place  was  wrapped  in  flames  and  smoke,  but  Major 
Anderson's  men  won  the  admiration  of  their 
enemies  by  standing  by  their  guns  and  returning 
the  fire  at  regular  intervals.  The  battle  lasted 
thirty-two  hours ;  more  than  fifty  tons  of  cannon- 
balls  and  eight  tons  of  powder  were  expended 
from  weapons  the  most  destructive  then  known 
to  warfare;  not  a  life  was  lost  on  either  side. 
Suniter  and  Moultrie  were  both  badly  damaged. 
Major  Anderson  surrendered  on  Saturday,  April 
13. 

The  London  Times  treated  this  remarkable 
event  in  humorous  style.  The  proceedings  at 
Charleston  were  likened  to  a  cricket  match  or  a 
regatta  in  England.  The  ladies  turned  out  to 
view  the  contest.  A  good  shot  from  Fort  Suniter 
wTas  as  much  applauded  as  a  good  shot  from  Fort 
Moultrie.  When  the  American  flag  was  shot 
away,  General  Beauregard  sent  Major  Anderson 
another  to  fight  under.  When  the  fort  was  found 
to  be  on  fire,  the  polite  enemy,  who  had  with 
such  intense  energy  labored  to  excite  the  confla 
gration,  offered  equally  energetic  assistance  to 
put  it  out.  The  only  indignation  felt  throughout 
the  affair  was  at  the  conduct  of  the  Northern 
flotilla,  which  kept  outside  and  took  no  part  in 
the  fray.  The  Southerners  resented  this  as  an 


PREMIER  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY.  229 

act  of  treachery  toward  their  favorite  enemy, 
Major  Anderson.  "  Altogether,"  says  the  Times, 
"  nothing  can  be  more  free  from  the  furious 

o 

hatreds,  which  are  distinctive  of  civil  warfare, 
than  this  bloodless  conflict  has  been."  Another 
London  paper  remarked  "  No  one  was  hurt.  And 
so  ended  the  first,  and,  we  trust,  the  last  engage 
ment  of  the  American  Civil  War." 

Mr.  Toombs7  prediction,  that  the  attack  upon 
Fort  Sumter  would  "  open  a  hornet's  nest "  in  the 
North,  was  sustained.  The  effect  of  the  assault  at 
that  time  and  the  lowering  of  the  national  flag  to  the 
forces  of  the  Confederacy  acted,  as  Mr.  Elaine  has 
stated,  "as  an  inspiration,  consolidating  public 
sentiment,  dissipating  all  differences."  In  fact  it 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis  all  around,  and  prepared 
the  two  sections  for  the  great  drama  of  the  War. 

An  important  part  of  the  work  of  Secretary 
Toombs  was  the  selection  of  a  commission  to  pro 
ceed  to  Europe  and  present  the  Confederate  posi 
tion  to  England  and  France,  in  order  to  secure 
recognition  of  the  new  nation.  Mr.  William  L. 
Yancey  was  placed  at  the  head  of  this  commission, 
and  with  him  were  associated  Mr.  A.  D.  Mason  of 
Virginia,  and  Mr.  A.  P.  Eost  of  Louisiana.  The 
first  month  of  the  term  of  the  Confederate  Secre 
tary  of  State  was  occupied  in  the  issue  of  letters 
of  marque.  On  the  19th  of  April  President  Lin 
coln  proclaimed  a  blockade  of  Southern  ports,  and 


230  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

declared  that  privateers  with  letters  of  marque 
from  the  Southern  Confederacy  should  be  treated 
as  pirates.  This  gave  Secretary  Toombs  a  strong 
point  in  dealing  with  foreign  powers.  The  new 
government  had  been  organized  with  promptness 
and  ability.  Great  energy  was  shown  in  getting 
the  civil  and  military  branches  equipped.  The 
Southern  position  had  been  presented  with  great 
strength  abroad,  and  France  and  England  were 
not  slow  in  framing  proclamations  recognizing  the 
Confederate  States  as  belligerents.  Next  to  im 
mediate  recognition  as  a  separate  nationality,  this 
step  was  significant,  aod  was  the  first  triumph  of 
the  diplomacy  of  Secretary  Toombs  over  Secre 
tary  Seward.  Then  came  the  demand  from  the 
foreign  powers  that  the  blockade  must  be  effectual, 
imposing  a  heavy  burden  upon  the  Northern 
States.  Lord  Lyons,  acting  in  Washington  in 
concert  with  the  French  Government,  declared 
that  "  Her  Majesty's  Government  would  consider 
a  decree  closing  the  ports  of  the  South,  actually  in 
possession  of  the  Confederate  States,  as  null  and 
void,  and  they  would  not  submit  to  measures  on  the 
high  seas  pursuant  to  such  a  decree."  Mr  Seward 
bitterly  complained  that  Great  Britain  "did  not 
sympathize  with  this  government."  The  British 
Minister  accordingly  charged  the  British  Consul 
at  Charleston  with  the  task  of  obtaining  from,  the 
Confederate  Government  securities  concerning  the 


PREMIER   OF  THE  CONFEDERACY.  231 

proper  treatment  of  neutrals.  He  asked  the  ac 
cession  of  the  Lincoln  government  and  of  the 
Davis  government  to  the  Declaration  of  Paris  of 
1856,  which  had  adopted  as  articles  of  maritime 
law  that  privateering  be  abolished ;  that  the  neu 
tral  flag  covers  enemy's  goods,  with  the  exception 
of  contraband  of  war ;  that  neutral  goods,  with  the 
exception  of  contraband  of  war,  are  not  liable  to 
capture  under  the  enemy's  flag ;  that  a  blockade, 
in  order  to  be  binding,  must  be  effectual,  that  is, 
must  be  maintained  by  a  force  sufficient  to  prevent 
access  to  the  coast  of  the  enemy.  These  condi- 
ditions,  except  the  first,  were  accepted  by  the  Con 
federate  Government. 

The  Southern  Confederacy  thus  became  parties, 
as  Mr.  Elaine  says,  to  "  an  international  compact "  ; 
and  when,  a  few  months  later,  Mr.  Seward  offered 
to  waive  the  point  made  by  Secretary  Marcy  many 
years  before,  and  accept  the  four  articles  of  the 
Paris  convention,  he  found  himself  blocked,  be 
cause  the  Confederate  States  had  not  accepted  the 
first  article,  abolishing  privateering,  and  her  pri 
vateers  must,  therefore,  be  recognized.  It  was  by 
these  privateers  that  great  damage  was  inflicted 
upon  American  shipping. 

The  Confederate  States  had  no  regular  navy, 
and  bat  few  vessels;  they  were  an  agricultural 
community,  not  a  commercial  or  a  ship-building 
people.  Quite  a  number  of  vessejs  were  put  in 


232  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

commission  under  letters  of  marque,  and  these 
reached  the  high  seas  by  running  the  blockade. 
Many  prizes  were  taken  and  run  into  Southern 
ports.  Later  on  steamers  were  fitted  out  and  sent 
to  sea  under  command  of  experienced  officers. 
This  naval  militia  captured  millions  of  the  ene 
my's  property,  and  produced  a  great  sensation  at 
the  North.  A  Southern  agent  was  sent  abroad  by 
the  naval  department  to  get  ships  and  supplies. 
"  In  three  years'  time,"  says  Mr.  Elaine, "  fifteen 
millions  of  property  had  been  destroyed  by 
Southern  privateers,  given  to  the  flames,  or  sunk 
beneath  the  waters.  The  shipping  of  the  United 
States  was  reduced  one-half,  and  the  commercial 
flag  of  the  Union  fluttered  with  terror  in  every 
wind  that  blew,  from  the  whale  fisheries  of  the 
Arctic  to  the  Southern  Cross." 

On  the  21st  of  May,  the  Confederate  Congress, 
after  providing  for  the  disposition  of  these  naval 
prizes,  and  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war 
brought  into  Southern  ports,  adjourned  to  meet 
on  the  20th  of  July  in  the  City  of  Richmond,  now 
selected  as  the  permanent  seat  of  Government  of 
the  Confederacy. 

The  powers  of  Europe  never  recognized  the 
Confederate  States  as  a  separate  nation.  The 
leaders  of  the  English  Government  were,  no 
doubt,  inclined  to  this  step,  but  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  Liberal  party,  under  the  leadership  of  John 


PREMIER  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 

Bright,  refused  to  sanction  such  a  course  toward 
a  government  whose  corner  stone  was  slavery. 
Mr.  Seward  ingeniously  pressed  the  point  that 
Southern  success  meant  a  slave  oligarchy  around 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Kussia  remained  the  strong 
ally  of  the  Northern  States.  England,  with  the 
Crimean  War  fresh  upon  her  hands,  hesitated 
before  engaging  Russia  again  or  imperiling  India 
in  the  East.  France  could  not  afford  to  take 
the  step  without  the  aid  of  England.  Secretary 
Toombs  dispatched  a  Minister  to  Mexico  to 
look  into  the  interesting  tumult  then  going  on. 
Louis  Napoleon  was  filled  with  his  desire  of  estab 
lishing  Maximilian  in  Mexico,  but  his  movement 
did  not  succeed.  Maximilian  was  defeated  and 
executed,  and  Napoleon  found  himself  too  much 
engaged  with  the  House  of  Hohenzollern  in  Ger 
many  to  follow  any  new  or  original  policy  in 
America. 

Carlyle  declared  with  dyspeptic  acrimony  that 
the  Civil  War  was  the  foulest  chimney  of  the  cen 
tury,  and  should  be  allowed  to  burn  out. 

Secretary  Toombs  had  issued  credentials  to  com 
missioners  to  the  unseceded  Southern  States.  On 
the  17th  of  April  Virginia  seceded;  on  the  28th 
of  May  North  Carolina  went  out  of  the  Union ; 
these  were  followed  by  Tennessee  and  Arkansas. 
The  border  States  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri  did 
not  formally  secede,  but  indignantly  declined  to 


234  ROBERT  TOO  MBS. 

furnisli  troops  in  response  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  procla 
mation.  They  appointed  delegates  to  a  Peace 
Congress  to  meet  in  Washington. 

The  tedious  routine  of  the  State  Department 
did  not  suit  the  restless  spirit  of  Kobert  Toombs. 
He  had  established  relations  abroad  as  belliger- 

O 

ents,  and  had  placed  the  new  government  in 
touch  with  its  Southern  neighbors.  His  dis 
patches  were  remarkable  for  brevity,  clearness,  and 
boldness ;  his  public  papers  are  models  of  nervous 
style,  but  he  longed  for  a  more  active  field  in  the 
revolution.  He  chafed  under  red-tape  and  con 
vention.  Toombs  charged  the  new  administration 
with  too  much  caution  and  timidity.  He  declared 
that  ninety  per  cent,  of  war  was  business,  and  that 
the  South  must  organize  victory  rather  than  trust 
entirely  to  fighting.  He  urged  the  government  to 
send  over  cotton  to  England  and  buy  arms  and 
ships  forthwith.  "  Joe  Brown,"  he  impatiently 
declared,  "had  more  guns  than  the  whole  Con 
federacy.  No  new  government,"  said  he,  "  ever 
started  with  such  unlimited  credit."  Mr.  Toombs 
believed  that  the  financial  part  of  the  Confeder 
acy  was  a  failure.  "  We  could  have  whipped  the 
fight,"  said  he,  in  his  impetuous  way,  "  in  the  first 
sixty  days.  The  contest  was  haphazard  from 
the  first,  and  nothing  but  miraculous  valor  kept 
it  going."  Mr.  Toombs  said  that  had  he  been 
President  of  the  Confederacy,  he  would  have 


PREMIER  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY.  235 

mortgaged  every  pound  of  cotton  to  France  and 
England  at  a  price  that  would  have  remunerated 
the  planters,  and  in  consideration  of  which  he 
would  have  secured  the  aid  of  the  armies  and 
navies  of  both  countries. 

But  Robert  Toombs  concluded  that  his  place  was 
in  the  field,  not  in  the  Cabinet.  Too  many  promi 
nent  men,  he  explained,  were  seeking  bombproof 
positions.  He  received  a  commission  as  brigadier 
general,  and  on  the  21st  of  July,  1861,  joined 
Generals  Beaure^ard  and  Johnston  at  Manassas. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

BRIGADIER  GENERAL  IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA. 

WHEN  Robert  Toombs  resigned  the  Cabinet 
and  took  the  field,  he  still  held  the  seat,  as  was  his 
prerogative,  in  the  Confederate  Congress.  This 
body,  like  the  British  Parliament,  sat  in  chairs, 
without  desks.  One  morning  Congress  was  dis 
cussing  the  Produce  Loan.  By  this  measure, 
invitations  were  given  for  contributions  of  cotton 
and  other  crops  in  the  way  of  a  loan.  By  the 
terms  of  the  act  these  articles  were  to  be  sold  and 
the  proceeds  turned  over  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  was  to  issue  eight  per  cent,  bonds 
for  them.  This  was  an  extraordinary  measure, 
and  never  really  amounted  to  much.  Colonel  A. 
R.  Lamar,  at  one  time  Secretary  of  the  Provisional 
Congress,  relates  that  during  this  debate  General 
Toombs  walked  into  the  hall.  "  He  Avas  faultlessly 
attired  in  a  black  suit  with  a  military  cloak  thrown 
over  one  shoulder  and  a  military  hat  in  his  left 
hand.  He  made  a  rattling  speech  against  the 
measure.  Drawing  himself  up,  he  said:  "Mr. 
Speaker,  we  have  been  told  that  Cotton  is  King, 
that  he  will  find  his  way  to  the  vaults  of  the 

236 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  237 

bankers  of  the  Old  World ;  that  he  can  march  up 
to  the  thrones  of  mighty  potentates,  and  drag 
from  the  arsenals  of  armed  nations  the  dogs  of 
war ;  that  he  can  open  our  closed  ports,  and  fly 
our  young  flag  upon  all  the  seas.  And  yet,  before 
the  first  autumnal  frost  has  blighted  a  leaf  upon 
his  coronet,  he  comes  to  this  hall  a  trembling 
mendicant,  and  says,  <  Give  me  drink,  Titinius,  or  I 
perish.' "  The  effect  was  magical ;  Colonel  Lamar, 
in  commenting  upon  this  dramatic  incident,  sums 
up  the  whole  character  of  Robert  Toombs : 

"He  was  cautious  and  safe  in  counsel,  while 
wild  and  exasperating  in  speech." 

When  Mr.  Toombs  was  once  asked  by  an  Eng 
lishman,  where  were  the  files  of  the  State  Depart 
ment,  he  answered  that  "He  carried  the  archives  in 
his  hat,"  When  he  resigned  the  position  of  Secre 
tary  of  State,  Hon.  Robert  M.  T.  Hunter  of  Virginia 
was  appointed  in  his  stead.  General  William 
M.  Browne  had  been  Assistant  Secretary  under 
Mr.  Toombs.  He  was  an  Englishman,  who  came 
to  this  country  during  Buchanan's  administra 
tion  and  edited  a  Democratic  paper  in  Washing 
ton.  When  General  Toombs  joined  the  Army  his 
staff  was  made  up  as  follows ;  D.  M.  Dubose,  Ad 
jutant  General ;  R.  J.  Moses,  Commissary  General ; 
W.  F.  Alexander,  Quartermaster  Major ;  DeRosset 
Lamar,  Aid-de-camp. 

General  Toombs'  entry  into  the  field,  just  after 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  found  the  army  of 
the  Confederacy  flushed  with  victory,  but  badly 
scattered  after  the  first  serious  engagement  of  the 
war.  General  Johnston  had  declared  that  even 
after  the  decisive  advantage  at  Bull  Kun,  pursuit 
was  not  to  be  thought  of,  for  his  troops  were 
almost  as  much  disorganized  by  victory  as  the 
Federals  by  their  defeat.  Many  soldiers,  suppos 
ing  the  war  was  over,  had  actually  gone  home. 
"Our  men,"  said  General  Johnston,  "had  in  a 
larger  degree  the  instincts  of  personal  liberty  than 
those  of  the  North,  and  it  was  found  very  difficult 
to  subordinate  their  personal  wills  to  the  needs  of 
military  discipline." 

The  battle  of  Manassas  had  a  powerful  effect 
upon  the  Northern  mind.  The  Lincoln  Cabinet 
was  seized  with  fear  for  the  safety  of  Washington. 
New  troops  were  summoned  to  that  city,  and  the 
materials  for  a  magnificent  army  were  placed  in 
the  hands  of  General  McClellan,  who  had  suc 
ceeded  McDowell,  the  luckless  victim  of  Manassas. 
More  than  one  hundred  thousand  men  were  now 
massed  in  front  of  Washington,  while  Joseph  E. 
Johnston,  with  fifty-four  thousand,  advanced  his 
outposts  to  Centreville,  and  at  Munson's  Hill 
Toombs7  brigade  was  in  sight  of  the  national 
capital.  His  troops  could  easily  watch  the  work 
men  building  one  of  the  wings  of  the  Capitol,  and 
the  victorious  Confederates,  with  prestige  in  their 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  239 

ranks,  were  actually  flaunting  their  flag  in  the  face 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  This  movement,  we  are  told  by 
good  generals,  was  of  no  military  value,  but  it 
kept  the  Northern  administration  in  a  white  heat. 
It  confused  the  Union  commanders  by  crossing 
their  counsels  with  popular  clamor  and  political 
pressure,  and  it  crippled  McClellan  when  he  finally 
moved  down  the  Chesapeake  to  the  peninsula,  by 
detaining  a  large  part  of  his  force  to  pacify  the 
authorities  in  Washington. 

When  McClellan  and  Mr.  Lincoln  were  disput 
ing  over  their  change  of  base,  the  military  situa 
tion  was  suddenly  shifted  by  the  evacuation  of 
Manassas  by  the  Confederate  army,  and  its  retire 
ment  first  behind  the  Rappahannock,  then  along 
the  Rapidan.  Johnston,  it  seems,  wanted  to  be 
nearer  his  base,  and  on  the  8th  of  March  skillfully 
managed  his  withdrawal,  so  that  the  enemy  had 
no  idea  of  his  movements.  General  Toombs' 
brigade  started  in  retreat  from  Centre ville.  He 
did  not  relish  this  movement.  He  writes  home 
from  Culpepper : 

This  has  been  a  sad  and  destructive  business.  We  were 
ordered  to  send  off  all  our  heavy  baggage,  but  so  badly 
did  they  manage  that  none  of  it  was  sent  back,  and  every 
particle  of  that  baggage,  blankets,  and  every  imaginable 
useful  article,  was  burned  up  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  My  brigade  must  have  lost  half  a 
million  of  property  and  all  the  rest  were  in  the  same  con 
dition.  Millions  of  stores  with  guns  and  ammunition  were 


240  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

destroyed.  Never  was  any  business  worse  managed.  The 
enemy  bad  no  more  idea  of  attacking  us  in  Centreville  than 
they  had  of  attacking  the  Peaks  of  Otter.  Of  course, 
when  we  retreated,  they  sent  marauding  parties  in  our 
trail  to  watch  our  retreat  and  take  possession  of  the  coun 
try,  and  now  the  whole  of  the  beautiful  Counties  of  Lou- 
don,  Fauquier,  Prince  William,  Fairfax,  and  the  Lord  only 
knows  how  many  more,  are  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy. 
It  was  a  sad,  distressing  sight,  all  the  way  along,  and  one 
that  frequently  drew  tears  from  my  eyes.  I  do  not  know 
what  it  means,  but  I  would  rather  have  fought  ten  battles 
than  thus  to  have  abandoned  these  poor  people.  We  have 
got  to  fight  somewhere,  and  if  I  had  my  way,  I  would  fight 
them  on  the  first  inch  of  our  soil  they  invaded,  and  never 
cease  to  fight  them  as  long  as  I  could  rally  men  to  defend 
their  homes.  The  great  body  of  the  army  is  now  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  I  suppose  we  shall  abandon  these  people 

and  retreat  back  toward  Richmond My  command  is 

in  excellent  condition.  A  few  broke  down  on  the  way,  but 
I  managed  to  have  them  taken  care  of  there  and  lost  none 
of  them  on  the  march. 

One  of  the  great  features  of  General  Toombs' 
control  of  his  brigade  was  the  excellent  care  he 
took  of  his  men.  He  never  allowed  them  to  be 
imposed  upon  by  the  officers  or  by  other  com 
mands. 

This  letter  betrays  the  impatience  of  General 
Toombs  over  any  mismanagement,  He  was  the 
soul  of  business,  and  as  the  transportation  facilities 
at  Manassas  were  meager,  he  chafed  under  the 
heavy  loss  to  which  his  brigade  was  subjected  in 
this  retreat.  "With  impetuous  ardor  he  calls  for 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  241 

resistance,  not  retreat.  He  did  not  approve  of  the 
"Fabian  policy  "  of  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  As  Gen 
eral  Longstreet  afterward  remarked,  "Toombs 
chafed  at  the  delays  of  the  commanders  in  their 
preparations  for  battle.  His  general  idea  was  that 
the  troops  went  out  to  fight,  and  he  thought  that 
they  should  be  allowed  to  go  at  it  at  once."  Near 
Orange  Court  House,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  on  the 
19th  of  March,  1862,  "I  know  not  what  is  to  be 
come  of  this  country.  Davis7  incompetency  is 
more  apparent  as  our  danger  increases.  Our  only 
hope  is  Providence." 

In  January,  1862,  the  General  Assembly  of 
Georgia  elected  Robert  Toombs  a  member  of 
the  Confederate  States  Senate.  Benjamin  H.  Hill 
was  to  be  his  colleague.  But  General  Toombs 
had  a  different  conception  of  his  duty.  He  real 
ized  that  he  had  been  prominent  in  shaping  the 
events  that  had  led  to  the  Civil  War,  and  he  did 
not  shirk  the  sharpest  responsibility.  He  felt  that 
his  duty  was  in  the  field.  He  had  condemned  the 
rush  for  civil  offices  and  what  he  called  "  bomb 
proof  positions,"  and  he  wished  at  least  to  lead  the 
way  to  active  duty  by  remaining  with  his  army. 

Two  months  later  an  effort  was  made  by  some  of 
his  friends  to  have  him  appointed  Secretary  of 
War.  This  would  have  brought  him  in  close  con 
tact  with  the  army,  which  he  was  anxious  to  serve. 
The  parties  behind  this  movement  believed  that 


242  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

the  great  abilities  of  Mr.  Toombs  should  not  be 
hidden  behind  the  command  of  a  brigade.  He 
would  have  made  an  ideal  war  minister.  His 
genius  for  details  and  his  ability  to  manage  affairs 
and  plan  campaigns  would  have  overmatched 
Edwin  M.  Stanton.  But  Mr.  Toombs  promptly 
cut  off  this  movement  in  his  behalf. 

On  22d  March,  1862,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  from 
Orange  Court  House,  Va. : 

I  thought  I  had  been  very  explicit  on  that  point.  I 
would  not  be  Mr.  Davis'  chief  clerk.  His  Secretary  of  Wai- 
can  never  be  anything  else.  I  told  my  friends  in  Richmond 
to  spare  me  the  necessity  of  declining  if  they  found  it  in 
contemplation.  I  have  not  heard  that  they  had  any  occa 
sion  to  interfere So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  Mr. 

Davis  will  never  give  me  a  chance  for  personal  distinction. 
He  thinks  I  pant  for  it,  poor  fool.  I  want  nothing  but  the 
defeat  of  the  public  enemy  and  to  retire  with  you  for  the 
balance  of  my  life  in  peace  and  quiet  in  any  decent  corner 
of  a  free  country.  It  may  be  his  injustice  will  drive  me 
from  the  army,  but  I  shall  not  quit  it  until  after  a  great 
victory,  in  which  I  shall  have  the  opportunity  of  doing 
something  for  the  country.  The  day  after  such  an  event 
I  shall  retire,  if  I  live  through  it.  I  have  grievances  enough 
now  to  quit,  but  I  shall  bide  my  time.  I  get  along  very 
well  with  the  army.  I  have  not  seen  Johnston  but  once  ; 
he  was  polite  and  clever.  George  W.  Smith  I  see  every  day. 
He  is  a  first-rate  gentleman  and  a  good  officer.  I  hear 
from  Stephens  constantly,  but  from  nobody  else  in  Rich 
mond You  say  you  pray  for  me  daily.  I  need  it. 

Put  it  in  your  prayers  that  if  it  be  the  will  of  God  that  I 
shall  fall,  a  sacrifice  in  this  great  conflict,  that  I  may  meet 
it  as  becomes  a  gentleman. 


/^  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  243 

An  instance  of  General  Toonibs'  impatience  un 
der  red-tape  rules  may  be  recalled.  A  member  of 
his  brigade  was  taken  ill,  and  he  secured  for  him 
entrance  into  the  hospital  of  Richmond.  The  hos 
pital  was  crowded ;  regulations  were  stringent,  and 
under  some  technical  ruling  his  sick  soldier  was 
shipped  back  to  his  brigade.  Toonibs  was  fired 
with  indignation.  He  proceeded  to  sift  the  affair 
to  the  bottom,  and  was  told  that  General  Johnston 
had  fixed  the  rules.  This  did  not  deter  him. 
Riding  up  to  the  commander's  tent  and  securing 
admission,  he  proceeded  to  upbraid  the  general  as 
only  Toonibs  could  do.  When  he  returned  to  his 
headquarters  he  narrated  the  circumstance  to  Dr. 
Henry  H.  Steiner,  his  brigade  surgeon  and  life 
long  friend.  Dr.  Steiner,  who  had  been  a  surgeon 
in  the  regular  army,  and  had  served  in  the  Mexican 
war,  was  a  better  tactical  officer  than  Toombs.  He 
was  himself  fearless  and  upright,  but  full  of  tact 
and  discretion.  "  General,"  said  Dr.  Steiner,  "  you 
have  been  too  rash ;  you  will  be  arrested."  Toombs 
replied  that  he  thought  so,  too.  He  held  himself 
in  anticipation  for  two  or  three  days,  but  he  was 
not  disturbed.  When  he  was  finally  summoned  to 
General  Johnston's  tent,  it  was  to  consult  over  a  plan 
of  movement,  and  it  was  noticed  that  Toonibs  was 
the  only  brigadier  in  counsel.  General  Johnston 
subsequently  remarked  that  Toonibs  was  the  big 
gest  brained  man  in  the  Confederacy.  The  bold- 


244  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ness  and  clearness  of  tlie  impetuous  Georgian  had 
captured  the  grim  hero  of  Manassas,  who  forgave 
the  affront  in  the  face  of  the  overmastering  mind 
of  the  man. 

General  McClellan  reached  Fortress  Monroe, 
April  2,  1862,  and  commenced  his  march  up 
the  peninsula.  The  country  is  low  and  flat, 
and  the  season  was  unusually  wet  and  dismal. 
The  objective  point  was  Richmond,  seventy- 
five  miles  away,  and  the  first  obstruction  met  by 
the  Federal  army  was  at  Yorktown.  The  defense 
adopted  by  General  Magruder  was  a  series  of  clams 
extending  along  the  Warwick  River,  which 
stretched  across  the  peninsula  from  the  York  to  the 
James  River,  a  distance  of  thirteen  miles.  The 
fords  along  the  Warwick  had  been  destroyed  by 
dams  defended  by  redoubts,  and  the  invader  and 
defender  were  stationed  in  dense  swamps.  At  dam 
No.  1  Toombs'  troops  were  often  under  fire.  They 
fought  with  spirit.  Each  detachment  was  on  duty 
defending  the  dam  forty-eight  hours,  and  between 
long  exposure  in  the  trenches,  the  frequent  alarms, 
and  sharp  sorties,  the  service  was  very  exhausting. 
It  was  only  possible  to  change  troops  at  night. 
On  the  16th  of  April  Toonibs  writes: 

One  of  my  regiments,  the  17th  Georgia,  had  a  skirmish 
day  before  yesterday.  They  acted  splendidly,  charging 
the  Yankees,  and  driving  them  from  the  rifle-pits,  killing, 
wounding,  and  taking  prisoners  over  one  .hundred  of  the 
enemy.  J  lost  but  two  killed  and  a  few  wounded. 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  245 

At  the  siege  of  Yorktown  in  the  early  part  of 
May,  1862,  General  Toombs  commanded  a  division 
consisting  of  his  own  and  Semmes'  brigades.  He 
had  2357  men  in  his  own  and  2342  in  Semmes' 
brigade,  making  about  4700  troops  in  line.  Dur 
ing  this  siege  General  Magruder  reports  that  Gen 
eral  Toombs  supported  Cobb's  brigade,  and 
promptly  and  energetically  led  the  remainder 
of  his  command  under  fire,  arriving  just  be 
fore  the  enemy  ceased  their  attack,  and  in  time 
to  share  its  danger.  General  Magruder  had 
only  11,000  men  under  him  in  the  peninsula, 
and  General  Huger  but  8000,  to  oppose  Me- 
Clellan's  march  with  80,000.  Johnston  and  Lee 
both  pronounced  the  peninsula  untenable,  and  on 
the  4th  of  May  Yorktown  was  evacuated. 

After  the  retreat  from  the  peninsula,  General 
Johnston  concentrated  his  entire  army  behind  the 
Chickahominy  River,  sixteen  miles  from  Rich 
mond.  On  the  12th  of  May  General  Toombs 
writes  home  that  his  command  near  the  Chicka 
hominy  was  "resting  easily  after  a  disagreeable 
march  from  Yorktown.  I  hear  that  there  is  great 

consternation  in  Richmond The  loss  of 

New  Orleans  gives  us  a  terrible  blow,  and,  fol 
lowed  by  Norfolk,  makes  it  necessary  for  us  to 
strike  a  decisive  blow  somewhere."  On  19th  of 
May,  1862,  he  writes  home  from  the  camp  near 
Richmond :  - 


246  nOBEET  TOOMBS. 

We  seem  to  have  come  up  here  to  defend  this  city.  You 
ask  me  my  opinion  of  the  present  state  of  the  country.  It 
is  bad  enough.  The  utter  incompetency  of  Mr.  Davis  and 
his  West  Point  generals  have  brought  us  to  the  verge  of 
ruin.  If  McClellan  is  unwise  enough  to  fight  us  here,  we 

shall  whip  and  drive  him  out  of  Virginia As  to 

Richmond,    it    will    never   be    taken    while   this   army   is 
here. 

General  Toombs'  estimate  of  the  army  and  of 
the  futility  of  an  attack  from  McClellan  was  justi 
fied  when,  after  the  26th  of  June,  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  almost  in  sight  of  the  spires  of  Rich 
mond,  was  forced  to  reel  back,  in  the  deadly  clinch 
of  a  seven  days'  combat,  to  the  James  River.  The 
Confederate  army  changed  its  position  from  one 
of  retreat  to  a  brilliant  and  aggressive  policy,  and 
the  subtle  tactics  of  Johnston  gave  way  to  the 
bold  strokes  of  Lee.  The  South  was  thrilled  with 
victory. 

General  Toombs  frequently  referred  to  the  in 
competency  of  Mr.  Davis.  The  letters  which  have 
just  been  quoted  were  written  to  his  wife,  and 
were  not  made  public  then,  but  he  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  express  his  opinion  openly.  Jefferson 
Davis  and  Mr.  Toombs  had  some  differences 
while  the  former  was  Secretary  of  War  under 
Franklin  Pierce  and  Mr.  Toombs  was  in  the  Sen 
ate.  Mr.  Toombs  believed  that  President  Davis 
was  too  partial  to  West  Point,  at  which  school 
Mr.  Davis  had  been  trained,  and  that  in  his  man- 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  247 

agement  of  the  army  lie  showed  the  tenacity  of  a 
martinet  rather  than  the  breadth  of  a  statesman. 

In  February,  1859,  the  Army  Appropriation  bill 
had  come  up  before  the  United  States  Senate. 
Mr.  Toombs  attacked,  and  Mr.  Davis  defended  the 
whole  system.  Mr.  Toombs  contended  that  the 
compensation  of  army  officers  was  too  great.  It 
was  more  than  the  same  talent  could  command  in 
any  other  walk  of  life.  It  was  upon  a  wrong  basis. 
"  You  take  a  boy  of  sixteen  and  send  him  to  West 
Point,  and  when  he  comes  out  you  give  him  $1400 
a  year.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  you  carry 
him  up  to  $3000,  $6000,  or  $8000.  Take  the  gen 
eral  employment  of  the  youths  of  the  country  who 
are  educated  at  the  different  colleges  for  all  civil 
purposes.  You  may  have  the  highest  amount  of 
genius  and  intellect,  and  you  get  nothing  like  such 
average  there.  It  will  take  them  many  years  to 
make  that  much  money."  Mr.  Toombs  declared 
that  a  brigadier  general's  commission  was  higher 
than  that  of  a  United  States  Senator.  "  I  think," 
said  he,  "  it  requires  as  great  qualifications  to  govern 
this  country  as  it  does  to  be  a  brigadier  general." 
Officers  had  increased  far  beyond  the  wants  of 
the  country.  Members  of  Congress  appoint  cadets 
for  the  different  districts;  "they  are  generally 
associated  in  some  way,  as  brothers,  sons,  or 
cousins,  with  the  governing  power."  He  thought 
a  salary  of  $600  or  $900  for  the  West  Point  grad- 


248  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

uates  enough.     According  to  the  way  army  com 
missions  were  valued  in  England,  the  commission 
of  a  lieutenant  who  graduated  at  West  Point  could 
not  be  worth  less  than  $50,000.     The  pay  of  a 
captain  was  higher  than  that  of  a  judge.     That 
position  required  the  highest  ability  and  integrity, 
and  the  average  salary  of  a  judge  was  but  $2000, 
without   traveling   expenses.      Mr.    Toombs   con 
tended  that  West  Point  men  seldom  reflected  any 
opinions  but  those  of  the  government  which  em 
ployed  them.     They  seldom  sympathized  with  the 
people,  and  he  wanted  a  government  of  the  people. 
"  You  take  a  boy  to  West  Point,"  he  said,  "  give 
him  quarters,  and  fuel,  and  clothes,  and  maintain 
him,  and  you  say  he  has  rendered  service.     When 
the  citizens  of  this  country  send  their  sons  to  col 
lege  they  pay  their  expenses  or  work  their  way 
through ;  but  when  a  boy  is  carried  to  West  Point 
he  is  taken  care  of;  a  house  is  provided  for  him; 
clothes  are  provided  for  him ;  instructors  are  pro 
vided  for  him,  and  that  is  called  being  in  service. 
I  lay  down  the  proposition  that  the  true  theory  of 
wages,  if  you  employ  these  people  to  keep  the 
peace,  is  exactly  the  same— a  constable's  pay — you 
ought  to  pay  them  what  they  can  be  had  for." 

Mr.  Davis  held  that  army  officers  were  constantly 
tempted  to  resign  by  otters  of  higher  pay.  It 
was  the  training  of  these  men  in  the  service,  not 
for  the  service,  it  was  their  attachment  for  the 


IN  AEMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  249 

country  which  made  them  so  valuable.  It  was 
better  to  instruct  men  for  officers7  places  and  then 
appoint  them,  than  to  appoint  them  and  then  in 
struct  them.  He  thought  appointments  were  free 
from  partisan  selection.  A  soldier's  devotion  was 
as  broad  as  the  continent.  A  West  Point  cadet  is 
a  warrant  officer ;  he  goes  there  to  serve  the  govern 
ment  as  it  may  direct.  It  directs  him  to  stay 
there  until  he  has  sufficient  elementary  instruction 
to  properly  discharge  the  duties  of  an  officer. 

The  debate  showed  the  views  of  the  two  men, 
and  indicated  the  differences  which,  from  points 
of  public  policy,  soon  deepened  into  personal  dis 
like.  On  the  30th  of  May,  Toombs  wrote  from 
the  army,  "  Davis  is  polite  and  formal ;  so  am  I." 

In  the  latter  part  of  1862  it  was  evident  that 
the  two  armies  must  meet  and  contend  for  the 
mastery  in  Virginia.  The  day  before  the  seven 
days'  fighting  commenced,  Dr.  Steiner  said  to 
General  Toombs,  his  intimate  friend  :  "  General, 
I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  you.  Keep  your  mind 
unclouded  during  these  important  operations." 
Dr.  Steiner  knew  that  during  the  heat  and  excite 
ment  of  battle,  temptation  was  great  among  soldiers 
to  take  ardent  spirits,  a  practice  that  had  grown 
somewhat  upon  General  Toombs  during  his  service 
in  the  field,  and  which  at  times  deprived  him 
of  his  best  powers.  "Why,  doctor,  I  gladly 
promise."  said  the  great  Georgian.  Nor  did  he, 


250  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

during   the   week,  take   a  glass  of   any    sort   of 
liquor. 

General  Toombs'  brigade  was  the  First  Bri 
gade,  First  Division,  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
and  during  the  campaign  of  the  peninsula,  was 
in  Magruder's  division.  On  June  15,  1862, 
Toombs  occupied  the  most  exposed  position,  which 
was  held  for  nine  days.  Magruder  recommended 
relief  for  his  troops,  which  had  been  suffering 
from  lack  of  rest  and  care.  Just  before  the  seven 
days'  fight  Toombs'  brigade  was  placed  in  D.  R. 
Jones'  division  and  Magruder  commanded  his 
own,  Jones',  and  McLaw's  divisions,  holding 
about  13,000  men.  Toombs'  brigade  was  com 
posed  of  the  1st,  15th,  17th,  and  20th  Georgia 
regiments. 

On  the  26th  of  June  Toombs'  brigade  was 
posted  upon  the  east  of  Garnett's  House,  on 
Golding's  farm,  just  in  front  of  the  enemy.  Both 
sides  threw  up  breastworks  so  near  that  neither 
could  advance  its  picket  line.  "  Just  before 
dark,"  says  Dr.  Steiner,  "  Mr.  Toombs  received 
orders  to  charge  the  enemy,  firing  having  been 
heard  on  the  left.  The  position  was  a  dangerous 
one.  A  charge  at  that  time  of  the  evening  was 
perilous.  Just  in  front  lay  a  deep  gulch — Labor- 
in- Vain  Ravine — which  was  alive  with  the 
enemy,  and  the  charge  must  be  through  an  un 
protected  field  of  wheat  and  clover.  General 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  251 

Toombs  was  astonished  at  the  order.     His  first 
instructions  had  been  to  put  himself  near  Garnett 
House,  to  hold  his  position  and  to  take  advantage 
of  any  retreat  of  the  enemy.     He   doubted  the 
authenticity  of  the  order,  and  sent  word  that  he 
would  not  obey  unless  in  writing.     Pretty  soon 
written  instructions  were  returned  and  General 
Toombs  prepared  for  what  he  believed  to  be  a 
forlorn  hope.     He  advanced  seven  companies  of 
the  2d  Georgia  Eegiment,  750  men,  under  Colonel 
B.  M.  Butt,  toward  the  enemy  in  the  face  of  a 
heavy   front   and  flank   fire.     Colonel   Williams' 
regiment  crossed  the  field  at  double-quick  under 
a  galling  fire  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  ravine. 
Unshaken  by  fearful  odds,  they  held  their  ground 
and  replied  with  spirit.     The  15th  Georgia  Eegi 
ment,  under  Colonel  Mclntosh  then  entered  the 
fight,  and  this  gallant  officer  was  mortally  wounded. 
The  17th  Georgia  charged  on  the  left  and  the  20th 
on  the  right.     The  engagement  was  a  very  bloody 
one.     Over  200   of  Toombs'  men  were  lost  and 
several  valuable  officers  were  killed.     The  oppos 
ing  troops  were  a  part  of  General  Hancock's  com 
mand,  and  the  firing  ceased  only  with  the  night. 
Next  morning  the  enemy  retreated,  and  Toombs' 
men   pressed   forward   and   held    their   position. 
General  Toombs  was  censured   for  this   engage 
ment,  for  which,  it  seems,  he  was  in  no  wise  re 
sponsible. 


252  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  commenced  one  of  the  famous  battles 
of  the  war.  McClellan's  army  had  gotten  away 
from  its  perilous  position  astride  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  and  now  found  itself  united  and  strongly 
intrenched  on  the  heights  of  Malvern  Hill.  All 
hope  of  destroying  that  army  was  gone,  and  it 
was  evident  that  an  engagement  must  ensue,  with 
the  odds  in  favor  of  the  Union  army.  It  was  in 
many  respects  like  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  ex 
cept  that  the  Confederate  forces  were  not  handled 
with  the  precision  and  effectiveness  of  the  historic 
sorties  against  Cemetery  Heights.  The  battlefield 
was  in  plain  range  of  the  enemy's  gunboats,  and 
there  was  much  surprise  that  General  Lee  should 
have  sanctioned  an  engagement  at  that  point. 
General  D.  H.  Hill  misunderstood  the  signal  for 
attack  at  Malvern  Hill,  and  late  in  the  afternoon 
ordered  the  charge.  Toombs'  brigade  had  been 
marching  and  countermarching  all  day,  and  went 
into  action  much  thinned  from  the  effects  of  the 
sharp  fighting  at  Labor-in- Vain  Ravine.  There 
was  no  concerted  attack.  The  charge  seems  to 
have  been  made  by  brigades,  even  single  regiments 
being  thrown  forward.  They  advanced  through 
a  swamp,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  charge,  owing 
to  a  murderous  fire  which  raked  the  plain  from 
the  hills,  600  yards  away,  cannot  be  exaggerated. 
Toombs'  brigade  was  one  of  the  first  to  reach  the 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  253 

plateau  swept  by  fifty  guns.  It  advanced  with 
Anderson's  brigade,  but  obliqued  to  the  left  about 
half-way  up  the  hill,  and  took  position  near  a 
fence,  where  the  troops,  suffering  fearfully  from 
the  cool,  deadly  aim  of  the  Federal  gunners,  were 
ordered  to  lie  down  and  secure  some  shelter  from 
the  cannon-shot.  It  was  at  this  time  that  General 
D.  II.  Hill  rode  up  to  General  Toombs  and  or 
dered  his  brigade  forward.  Some  sharp  words 
ensued  between  these  officers,  and  the  men  moved 
forward  handsomely  to  the  brow  of  the  hill.  At 
this  time,  however,  the  steady  stream  of  fugitives 
pressing  back  from  the  charge,  broke  the  alignment 
of  the  brigade  and  separated  the  regiments.  Colo 
nel  Butt's  regiment  went  forward  with  Kershaw's 

o 

brigade.  The  whole  Confederate  charge  was  soon 
checked  and  the  troops  fell  back  in  disorder. 
Their  loss  was  fully  5000  men,  and  the  loss  in 
Toombs'  brigade  was  219  men,  making  his  losses 
in  the  two  engagements  over  one-third  of  his  en 
tire  number.  Malvern  Hill  was  a  blunder  which 
was  never  repeated,  but  it  wTas  a  disastrous  one 
for  the  Georgia  troops. 

The  subjoined  correspondence  will  be  under 
stood  in  the  light  of  the  meeting  of  General  D.  H. 
Hill  and  General  Toombs  near  Malvern  Hill  dur 
ing  the  progress  of  the  charge  of  the  Confederate 
forces. 


254  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

HEADQUAETEES  FJEST  BEIGADE,  FIEST  DIVISION, 

In  the  Field,  July  6,  1862. 
MAJOE  GENEEAL  D.  H.  HILL. 

Sir:  Military  movements  since  Tuesday  last  have 
prevented  an  earlier  reply  to  your  conversation  with 
me  on  the  battlefield  that  evening.  I  understood 
you  to  say,  among  other  things,  that  "Your  (my) 
brigade  would  not  fight";  that  you  "always  knew  it 
would  not  fight"  ;  that  it  "pretended  to  want  to  fight, 
but  would  not "  ;  "  Where  were  you  when  I  was  rid 
ing  in  front  on  my  horse  trying  to  rally  your  brigade?  " 
I  desire  first  to  know  whether  I  am  correct  in  m}*-  under 
standing  of  your  language,  and  if  not,  wherein  I  am  mis 
taken. 

And  secondly,  to  request  of  you  such  explanation  of  that 
language  as  you  may  choose  to  give. 

I  am  sir, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

ROBEET  TOOMBS. 


July  6,  1862. 

General:  Your  note  has  just  been  received.  My  re 
marks  were  personal  to  yourself  and  not  to  your  brigade. 
I  did  not  in  the  slightest  degree  reflect  on  your  men. 
What  I  said  was  in  substance  this  :  "  You  have  been  want 
ing  to  fight,  and  now  that  you  have  one,  you  have  got  out 
of  it."  There  were  witnesses  to  our  conversation,  and  if 
my  remarks  were  severer,  I  will  let  you  know. 

It  may  be  well  to  suggest  to  you  that,  as  the  command 
ing  officer  on  the  field,  I  have  an  official  report  to  make 
which  will  not  be  modified  by  your  note. 

It  is  notorious  that  you  have  a  thousand  times  expressed 
your  disgust  that  the  commanding  general  did  not  permit 
you  to  fight.  It  is  equally  notorious  that  you  retired  from 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN    VIRGINIA.  255 

the  field.  These  are  the  two  facts  of  which  I  reminded 
you  on  Tuesday.  I  made  no  comment  upon  them,  and  if 
the  simple  truth  has  been  offensive,  the  interpretation  of  it 
has  been  your  own. 

Yours  truly, 

D.  II.  HILL, 
BRIGADIER  GENERAL  TOOMBS.  Major  General. 

HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE,  FIRST  DIVISION, 
GENERAL  D.  H.  HILL.  July  6,  1862. 

Sir :  Your  note  of  this  date  has  just  been  received.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  say  it  is  not  satisfactory. 
It  would  be  inappropriate  to  comment  upon  it  properly  in 
this  note,  and  for  that  reason  alone  I  waive  it  for  the  present. 
As  to  your  remark  that  you  were  the  commanding  officer 
on  the  field  on  the  1st  inst.,  I  never  before  heard  of  it,  nor 
do  I  now  think  so,  but,  however  that  fact  may  be,  I  am  at 
a  loss  to  know  for  what  reason  you  state  it  unless  it  was  to 
menace  and  intimidate  me  in  the  pursuit  of  proper  satis 
faction  for  the  unprovoked  insult  you  have  cast  upon  me. 
If  that  was  your  object,  this  note  will  satisfy  you  that  you 
have  failed  in  your  object.  I  now  demand  of  you  personal 
satisfaction  for  the  insult  you  cast  upon  my  command  and 
myself  on  the  battlefield  on  the  1st  inst.,,  and  for  the  rep 
etition  and  aggravation  thereof  in  your  note  of  this  day. 
I  refer  you  to  my  friend  Colonel  Benning  for  all  necessary 
arrangements. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

CAMP  NEAR  RICHMOND,  YA., 

July  12,  1862. 

General:  Your  note  of  the  6th  was  received  yesterday. 
I  must  again  enter  my  protest  against  your  second  declara 
tion  that  I  reflected  upon  your  brigade  in  the  battle  of 


256  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Malvern  Hill.     "Witnesses  to  our  interview  affirm  that  my 
remarks  were  entirely  personal  to  yourself. 

In  regard  to  your  demand  for  satisfaction,  I  construe  it 
to  mean  either  that  I  must  apologize  to  you  for  the  lan 
guage  used  by  me  on  the  battlefield,  or  that  I  must  grant 
you  a  hostile  meeting.  If  the  first  interpretation  be  correct, 
I  will  state  that  I  will  make  full,  public,  and  ample  conces 
sions  when  satisfied  that  I  did  you  injustice  ;  and  this  I 
would  do  without  any  demand.  I  certainly  thought  that 
you  had  taken  the  field  too  late,  and  that  you  left  it  too 
early.  You  may,  however,  have  done  your  whole  duty, 
and  held  your  ground  as  long  as  it  was  possible  for 
a  brave  and  skillful  officer  to  hold  it.  If  the  facts  prove 
this  to  be  so,  no  one  will  be  more  gratified  than  myself, 
and  my  acknowledgment  of  error  will  be  cordial  and 
complete. 

But  if  your  demand  means  a  challenge,  its  acceptance, 
when  we  have  a  country  to  defend  and  enemies  to  fight, 
would  be  highly  improper  and  contrary  to  the  dictates  of 
plain  duty,  without  reference  to  higher  grounds  of  action. 
I  will  not  make  myself  a  party  to  a  course  of  conduct  for 
bidden  alike  by  the  plainest  principles  of  duty,  and  the 
laws  which  we  have  mutually  sworn  to  serve. 
Yours  truly, 

D.  II.  HILL,  Major  General. 

BRIGADIER  GEXERAL  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 


Just  what  General  Toombs  replied  to  this  is  not 
known.  The  letter  has  not  been  preserved  in  this 
correspondence.  It  evidently  declared  that  the  ex 
planation  was  not  satisfactory.  Major  E.  J.  Moses, 
Jr.,  a  member  of  General  Toombs'  staff,  submitted 
jn  writing  the  following  report  of  his  recollection  of 


IN  AEMT  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  257 

General  Hill's  words  to  General  Toombs  at  Mal- 
vern  Hill : 

Where  is  your  brigade,  sir  ?  I  told  you  that  I  wanted  a 
fighting  brigade,  and  your  brigade  will  not  fight.  I  knew 
it  would  not,  and  you  are  the  man  who  pretends  to  have 
been  spoiling  for  a  fight.  For  shame  !  Rally  your  troops  ! 
Where  were  you  when  I  was  riding  up  and  down  your  line 
rallying  your  troops  ? 

Major  Moses  adds : 

As  aid-de-camp  of  General  Robert  Toombs,  I  remained 
with  him  until  some  time  after  this  conversation.  Pre 
vious  to  this  conversation  General  Toombs  had  been  about 
fifteen  yards  to  the  rear  of  the  center  of  his  line  and  his 
troops  were  unbroken.  There  were  many  men  coming  by 
us,  but  I  saw  not  over  ten  from  General  Toombs'  brigade. 
The  order  was  given  "  Forward,  left  oblique,"  and  General 
Toombs  moved  to  the  left  of  his  line.  When  General  Hill 
met  him  and  commenced  this  attack  on  the  character  of 
himself  and  his  brigade  without  the  slightest  provocation, 
General  Toombs  had  not  only  been  rallying  the  troops,  but 
continued  to  use  his  best  endeavors  to  rally  them  till  late 
at  night.  I  was  with  General  Toombs  the  whole  time  from 
the  commencement  of  the  action  until  half  or  three-quar 
ters  of  an  hour  after  the  conversation. 

The  following  is  the  concluding  letter  of  the 
correspondence : 

July  15,  1862. 

General:  I  regret  that  my  last  note,  which  was  intended 
to  be  conciliatory,  has  been  misunderstood  or  misappre- 
ciated.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  know  enough  of  my 
previous  history  to  be  aware  that  a  hostile  meeting,  under 


258  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

any  circumstances,  would  be  abhorrent  to  my  principles 
and  character.  At  this  time  it  would  be  in  the  highest  de 
gree  improper.  I  have  offered  you  the  only  redress  which 
I  could  make  even  after  a  meeting,  viz.,  an  acknowledg 
ment  of  error  when  convinced  of  that  error.  As  no  good 
can  result  from  a  continued  correspondence,  it  will  close  on 
my  part  with  this  communication. 

Yours  truly, 

D.  II.  HILL,  Major  General. 
BRIGADIER  GENERAL  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

General  Hill  was  a  good  man  and  a  brave  sol 
dier.  His  devotion  to  the  Confederate  cause  was 
undoubted,  but  his  zeal  sometimes  made  him  harsh, 
and  more  than  once  he  placed  himself  in  the  posi 
tion  of  reflecting  upon  the  conduct  of  others.  On 
one  occasion  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  where 
General  Hill  was  in  command  of  the  extreme  right 
of  the  Confederate  line,  on  the  second  day  of  the 
battle  information  was  brought  to  him  of  the  sud 
den  and  unexpected  advance  of  a  strong  Federal 
force  against  his  line.  It  proved  to  be  the  division 
of  the  Federal  General  Gordon  Granger.  General 
Hill  and  General  W.  H.  T.  Walker,  who  com 
manded  two  divisions  under  General  Hill,  pro 
ceeded  at  once  to  the  threatened  point,  to  ascertain 
the  situation  of  affairs,  accompanied  by  some  mem 
bers  of  their  staff.  Arrived  at  a  point  where  this 
new  arrival  of  Federal  forces  could  be  seen,  Gen 
eral  Walker  deferred  to  General  Hill  and  asked 
him,  "  What  do  you  wish  me  to  do  ? " 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  259 

"  What  do  I  want  you  to  do  ? "  said  Hill  with 
severity,  and  even  with  something  like  a  snarl,  "  I 
want  you  to  fight." 

General  Walker  flushed  up  in  a  moment.  He 
was  not  a  man  to  deserve  any  reflection  upon  his 
courage  or  to  bear  it  when  offered.  No  man  in 
the  old  army  had  a  higher  and  more  deserved  re 
putation  for  dashing  courage.  He  had  been  des 
perately  wounded  in  Florida,  and  again  wounded, 
supposed  to  be  mortally,  in  leading  the  assault  on 
Chapultepec  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  had,  on  many 
occasions,  given  undoubted  evidence  of  his  valor 
and  fidelity.  He  answered  hotly,  "  Of  course  I  will 
fight ;  you  know  that,  General  Hill,  well  enough ; 
but,  by  God !  sir,  there  are  two  ways  of  fighting, 
one  to  whip  and  the  other  to  get  whipped." 

The  point  was  a  good  one.  Major  Joseph  B. 
Gumming,  chief  of  General  Walker's  staff,  who  re 
lated  this  incident,  says  it  had  the  desired  effect. 

When  Lougstreet  marched  against  Pope  he 
stationed  General  Tooinbs'  brigade  to  guard 
one  of  the  fords  of  the  Kapidan.  Toornbs  was 
absent  at  the  time  and  when  he  rode  up  ordered 
them  back  to  camp.  General  Longstreet  heard 
of  Toornbs  making  stump  speeches  and  "refer 
ring  in  anything  but  complimentary  terms  of 
his  commander."  He  sent  General  Toombs  to 
Gordonsville.  Afterward  he  received  an  apol 
ogy  from  Toombs  and  directed  him  to  join 


260  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

his  command.  As  we  were  preparing  for  the 
charge  at  Manassas  (second  battle),  Toombs  got 
there,  riding  rapidly  with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  and 
was  much  enthused.  I  was  just  sending  a  courier 
to  his  command  with  a  dispatch.  '  Let  me  take 
it,'  he  exclaimed.  *  With  pleasure,'  I  responded, 
and  handed  him  the  paper.  He  put  spurs  to  his 
horse  and  dashed  off,  accompanied  by  his  courier. 
When  he  rode  up  and  took  command  of  his  bri 
gade  there  was  wild  enthusiasm,  and,  everything 
being  ready,  an  exultant  shout  was  sent  up,  and 
the  men  sprang  to  the  charge.  I  never  had  any 
more  trouble  with  Toombs.  We  were  afterward 
warm  personal  friends." 

On  the  30th  of  August,  1862,  Hon.  A  H. 
Stephens  wrote  to  Mrs.  Toombs  that  General 
Toombs  \vas  still  at  Gordons ville.  He  said : 

How  long  lie  will  remain,  I  do  not  know.  I  thought  at 
first  that  it  would  only  be  for  a  day  or  two,  or  until 
General  Longstreet  could  receive  and  reply  to  two  notes  he 
had  written,  explaining  to  my  mind  very  fully  and  satisfac 
torily  his  acts  and  conduct,  which,  it  seems  to  me,  General 
Longstreet  had  misunderstood.  Such  is  still  my  opinion, 
and  yet  I  may  be  mistaken.  I  do  not  know  much  of  Gen 
eral  Longstreet.  I  only  know  that  General  Toombs,  who 
does  know  him,  always  expressed  very  high  admiration  of 
him  as  an  officer. 

At  the  second  battle  of  Manassas,  August  29, 
1862,  Toombs'  brigade  in  Jones'  division  held  the 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  261 

rear  of  Longstreet's  corps.  Early  in  the  morning 
the  brigade  took  up  the  march  in  the  direction  of 
the  old  battlefield  of  Manassas,  where  heavy  fir- 
ing  was  heard.  Arriving  at  noon  it  was  stationed 
on  the  extreme  right,  or  upon  the  Manassas  Gap 
railroad.  The  brigades  formed  in  echelon.  Gen 
eral  Longstreet  in  his  published  report  com 
mended  especially  General  Toombs  for  gallant 
conduct  at  Manassas  Plain. 

General  D.  R.  Jones,  in  his  report  of  Manassas, 
says: 

General  Toombs,  released  from  arrest,  under  which  he 
had  been  since  the  18th  of  August,  came  upon  the  field 
shortly  after  his  brigade  went  in  under  fire  and  accompan 
ied  it  in  action. 

Captain  H.  L.  French,  of  the  17th  Georgia  Regi 
ment,  says  :  "  Soon  after  our  engagement,  to  our 
great  satisfaction,  we  unexpectedly  met  our 
gallant  commander,  Brigadier  General  Robert 
Toombs,  who,  anticipating  the  fight,  had  ridden 
hard  all  day.  He  was  greeted  with  hearty  cheers, 
and  said,  '  Boys,  I  am  proud  of  the  report  given  of 
you  by  General  Jones.  I  could  not  be  with  you 
to-day,  but  this  was  owing  to  no  fault  of  mine. 
To-morrow  I  lead  you.' r 

One  report  of  this  engagement  declares  that  as 
Toombs  dashed  into  the  fire  and  joined  his  men. 
he  waved  his  hat  and  shouted,  "  Go  it,  boys  !  I  am 


262  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

with  you  again.  Jeff  Davis  can  make  a  gen 
eral,  but  it  takes  God  Almighty  to  make  a 
solder  I  " 

The  expulsion  of  Pope  only  accelerated  the 
momentum  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 
From  the  front  of  Richmond,  the  theater  of  oper 
ations  was  transferred  at  once  to  the  front  of 
Washington,  and  the  Union  army  was  again  on 
the  defensive.  General  Lee,  freed  from  the  ne 
cessity  of  guarding  the  Confederate  capital, 
resolved  to  invade  Maryland.  He  reasoned 
that  the  prestige  of  the  invasion  would  advance 
the  cause  of  the  young  nation  abroad;  that  it 
would  relieve  Virginia  from  incursions  during  the 
winter,  and  that  the  presence  of  the  army  in  Mary 
land  would  raise  the  standard  of  revolt  and  cause 
the  liberation  of  that  State  from  the  Union  cause. 
Lee's  army,  however,  was  not  equal  to  such  an 
expedition.  It  was  not  well  clothed  or  armed, 
and  barely  numbered  40,000,  while  McClellan 
had  80,000. 

Toombs'  brigade  accompanied  Longstreet's 
corps  in  its  counter-march  from  Hagarstown  to 
Hill's  support.  On  the  14th  of  September  these 
were  withdrawn  to  the  valley  of  the  Antietam. 
The  creek  of  Antietam  runs  obliquely  to  the 
source  of  the  Potomac,  and  empties  into  that  river 
six  miles  above  Harper's  Ferry.  The  Confederate 
lines  were,  on  the  15th,  drawn  up  in  front  of 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  263 

Sharpsburg,  Longstreet  being  on  the  right  of  the 
road  from  Sharpsburg. 

In  this  place  the  creek  is  crossed  by  four  stone 
bridges,  and  three  of  these  were  strongly  guarded 
by  the  Confederates.  Burnside's  army  corps  was 
stationed  on  the  Sharpsburg  Turnpike,  directly 
in  front  of  bridge  No.  3.  The  preliminary  deploy 
occupied  the  16th  of  September,  an  artillery  duel 
enlivening  the  time  before  the  battle.  Burnside 
lay  behind  the  heights  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Antietam  and  opposite  the  Confederate  right, 
which,  Swinton  says,  it  was  designed  he  should 
assail,  after  forcing  the  passage  of  the  Antietam 
by  the  lower  stone  bridge.  The  part  assigned  to 
General  Burnside  was  of  the  highest  importance, 
for  a  successful  attack  by  him  upon  the  Confeder 
ate  right,  would,  by  carrying  the  Sharpsburg 
Crest,  force  Lee  from  his  line  of  retreat  by  way 
of  Shepherdstowu.  Swinton  says  this  task  should 
have  been  an  easy  one,  for  the  Confederate  forces 
at  this  point  had  been  drawn  upon  to  recruit  the 
left  where  Hooker  had  made  his  furious  assaults. 

There  was  left  in  the  right  wing  of  the  Con 
federate  army  but  a  single  division  of  2500  men 
under  General  D.  K.  Jones,  and  the  force  actually 
present  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  stone  bridge 
did  not  exceed  400.  These  troops  were  under 
the  direction  of  General  Eobert  Toombs,  and  this 
engagement  made  his  reputation  as  a  fighter  and 


264  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  memorable  of 
the  Civil  War.  It  was  one  o'clock  before  Burnside 
charged.  General  Lee,  in  his  report  of  the  bat 
tle,  said  : 

In  the  afternoon  the  enemy  advanced  on  our  right,  where 
General  Jones'  division  was  posted,  who  handsomely 
maintained  his  position.  General  Toombs'  brigade,  guard 
ing  the  bridge  on  Antietam  Creek,  gallantly  resisted  the 
approach  of  the  enemy,  but  his  superior  number  enabling 
him  to  extend  his  left,  he  crossed  below  the  bridge  and 
assumed  a  threatening  attitude  on  our  right,  which  fell 
back  in  confusion.  By  this  time,  between  3  and  4  o'clock 
P.M.,  A.  P.  Hill,  with  five  of  his  brigades,  reached  the 
scene  of  action  and  drove  the  enemy  from  the  position 
they  had  taken.  The  bridge  was  defended  with  two  regi 
ments  of  Toombs'  brigade  (2d  and  20th)  and  the  batteries 
of  General  Jones.  General  Toombs'  small  command  re 
pulsed  five  different  assaults  made  by  greatly  superior 
forces,  and  maintained  its  position  with  distinguished 

gallantry Toombs  charged  the  flank  of  the  enemy, 

while  Archer  moved  upon  the  front  of  the  Federal  line. 
The  enemy  made  a  brief  resistance  and  then  ran  in  con 
fusion. 

Such  commendation  from  the  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Confederate  army  speaks  for  itself. 

Speaking  of  the  last  charge,  when  the  Federals 
were  driven  back  over  the  creek  in  the  counter 
attack,  General  Jones  says : 

General  Toombs,  whom  I  had  sent  for,  arriving  from 
the  right  with  a  portion  of  his  brigade  (llth  Georgia  Reg- 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  265 

iment)  was  ordered*  to  charge  the  enemy.  This  he  did 
most  gallantly,  supported  by  Archer's  brigade,  delivering 
fire  at  less  than  fifty  yards,  dashing  at  the  enemy  with 
the  bayonet,  forcing  him  from  the  crest  and  following  him 
down  the  hill. 

General  Garnett's  report  credits  Toonibs  with 
having  "reenforced  the  right  just  after  it  had 
been  driven  back,  and  restored  the  fortunes  of  the 
day  in  that  quarter." 

From  the  report  of  General  Toombs  it  appeared 
that  when  he  first  moved  into  Maryland  he  was 
assigned   to   command    a   division   composed    of 
Toombs',    Drayton's,   and    Anderson's    brigades, 
and  took  possession    of  Hagerstown.     On  Sept 
ember  14  he  was  ordered  to  Sharpsburg,  two  of 
his  regiments  having  been  sent  to  Williamsport 
to  protect  the  wagon    trains.     "With   two   small 
regiments  left,  General  Toombs  took  position  near 
the  bridge  over  the  Antietam  on   the   road   to 
Harper's  Ferry.     He  took  possession  of  the  ground 
with  the  20th  Georgia  Regiment,  commanded  by. 
Colonel  Jonathan  B.  Gumming,  and  the  2d  Georgia 
Regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Holmes.     The 
creek  was  comparatively  straight  by  this  bridge. 
He  formed  his  regiments  along  the  creek  in  more 
open  order  than  was  desirable  on  account  of  the 
smallness  of  his  number.     Subsequently  the  50th 
Georgia,  with  scarcely  100  men,  was  placed  under 
his  command.     Colonel  Eubanks'  battery  was  by 


286  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

order  of  General  Longstreet  placed  in  his  rear. 
The  enemy  opened  on  his  position  on  Tuesday 
evening,  the  16th  of  September.  On  Wednesday 
morning,  his  pickets  were  driven  in  and  the  enemy 
menaced  his  position.  The  ground  descended 
gently  to  the  creek  covered  with  a  narrow  strip  of 
woods,  affording  slight  protection.  The  enemy  ap 
proached  by  the  road  parallel  with  his  line  of 
battle,  he  says,  exposing  his  flank  to  a  destructive 
fire.  Between  9  A.  M.  and  1  p.  M.  the  Federals 
made  five  attempts  to  carry  the  bridge,  and  were 
repulsed  by  the  2d  and  20th  Georgia  regiments. 
Failing  to  wrest  the  bridge  from  its  heroic  de 
fenders,  the  enemy  turned  his  attention  to  the 
fords.  "  Not  being  able  to  get  reinforcements, 
and  seeing  that  the  enemy  would  cross  and  attack 
my  front,  right  flank,  and  rear,  Colonel  Holmes 
having  been  killed,  Major  Harris  wounded,  both 
regiments  having  suffered  heavily,  ammunition 
nearly  exhausted,  and  the  battery  withdrawn,  I 
withdrew  my  command  to  a  position,  designated 
by  Longstreet,  opposite  the  lower  fords.  This 
change  of  position  was  made  very  satisfactorily 
and  without  serious  loss.  The  15th  and  17th 
Georgia  regiments  and  part  of  the  llth,  previously 
detached,  now  came  up  and  occupied  the  new 
position.  The  20th  and  2d  went  to  the  ammunition 
train  to  replenish  their  cartridge  boxes.  The 
enemy  moved  through  the  bridge  and  ford  with 


IN  ARM7   OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  267 

extreme  caution,  and  lost  nearly  two  hours  in  cross 
ing,  about  which  time  A.  P.  Hill's  division  came 
from  Harper's  Ferry.    I  was  ordered  by  Longstreet 
to  put  my  command  in  motion  to  meet  the  enemy. 
I  found  them  in  possession  of  the  ground  I  was 
ordered  to  occupy,  including  the  bridge  road  and 
the  suburbs  of  Sharpsburg.     With  less  than^ one- 
fifth    the    numbers    of    the   enemy   and   within 
100  paces  of  his  lines  I  determined  to  give  battle. 
I  had  instantly  to  determine  either  to  retreat  or 
to  fight.     A  retreat  would  have  left  the  town  of 
Sharpsburg  and  General  Longstreet's  rear  open  to 
the  enemy.     The  enemy  advanced  in  good  order 
to  within  sixty  or  eighty  paces,  when  the  effective 
ness  of  the  fire  threw  his  column  into  considerable 
confusion,  perceiving  which  I  instantly  ordered  a 
charge,  which   was   brilliantly   executed   by  my 
whole  line.     The  enemy  fled  in  confusion  toward 
the  river,  making  two  or  three  efforts  to  rally, 
which  were  soon  defeated.     The  enemy  brought 
over  the  bridge  a  battery.     I  ordered  Eichardson's 
battery  to  open  upon  it,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
15th  and  20th  Georgia  charged  upon  it  and  com 
pelled  it  to  rejoin  the  flying  infantry.     I  desired 
to  pursue  the  enemy  across  the  river,  but,  being 
deficient  in  artillery,  I  sent  to  General  Lee  for  a 
battery,  which  came  up  too  late.     I  then  determined 
to  move  my  troops  to  my  first  position  along  the 
river,  but  received  the  order  to  occupy  the  heights 


268  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  leading  to  the 
bridge  from  Sharpsburg,  and  there  the  troops 
bivouacked  for  the  ni^ht." 

o 

The  gallant  conduct  of  Toombs'  brigade  at 
Sharpsburg  was  the  theme  on  both  sides.  The 
country  rang  with  its  exploits  and  the  fiery  Geor 
gia  brigadier  became  the  toast  of  the  army. 
Burnside's  heavy  losses  abundantly  proved  the 
stoutness  of  the  resistance  and  the  cleadliness  of 
the  charges  of  the  Georgia  troops. 

The  next  evening,  on  the  edge  of  Sharpsburg, 
General  Toombs  and  his  aids  crossed  a  little 
branch  on  his  way  to  the  headquarters  of  Colonel 
Benning.  General  Toombs  rode  his  famous  mare 
"  Gray  Alice,"  so  well  known  to  his  command. 
He  was  not  very  far  over  when  a  troop  of  calvary 
rode  up.  He  challenged  them,  and  they  answered 
"  We  are  friends."  Captain  Troup  of  his  staff, 
however,  detected  the  ruse  and  fired  into  them. 
The  squad  returned  the  fire.  General  Toombs 
was  shot  through  the  hand  with  which  he  was 
holding  the  reins.  The  gray  mare  at  once  became 
unmanageable  and  ran  back  across  the  branch. 
As  soon  as  he  could  control  the  mare,  General 
Toombs  rode  back  to  Colonel  Benning  and,  report 
ing  his  wound,  turned  his  brigade  over  to  Colonel 
Benning.  When  it  became  known  that  General 
Toombs  was  wounded  his  men  were  deeply  pained. 
Always  solicitous  for  their  welfare,  his  soldiers 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  269 

were  devotedly  attached  to  him.  He  took  care  of 
his  brigade  even  to  the  extremity  of  violating  army 
discipline.  He  exacted  the  utmost  consideration 
for  his  men,  and  the  officer  who  periled  their  safety, 
or  disputed  their  efficiency,  was  quickly  called  to 
account.  Whether  against  Johnston,  Longstreet,  or 
Hill,  the  First  Brigade,  First  Division,  was  sure  of  a 
fearless  champion  in  the  person  of  its  commander. 

The  battle  of  Sharpsburg  was  a  very  bloody 
one.  The  losses  on  the  Federal  side  were  nearly 
12,500,  while  the  Confederates  lost  8000.  Lee 
withdrew  into  Virginia,  and  McClellan  was  too. 
much  demoralized  to  follow.  Longstreet,  in  sum 
ming  up  the  Manassas  and  Maryland  campaign, 
declared  that  in  one  month  the  troops  had  marched 
over  two  hundred  miles  upon  little  more  than  half 
rations  and  fought  nine  battles  and  skirmishes. 
They  had  "  killed,  wounded,  and  captured  nearly 
as  many  men  as  we  had  in  our  ranks,  besides  tak 
ing  arms  and  other  munitions  of  war  in  large 
quantities."  General  Longstreet  compliments  Brig 
adier  General  Toombs  for  his  "gallant  defense 
at  the  bridge  of  Antietam  and  his  vigorous  charge 
upon  the  enemy's  flank  ;  he  was  severely  wounded 
at  the  close  of  the  engagement." 

General  Toombs  returned  to  his  home  after 
Sharpsburg,  and  remained  several  months.  He 
rejoined  his  command  near  Fredericksburg,  but  in 
March,  1863,  wrote  a  touching  farewell  to  his  bri- 


2*0  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

g 


gade  and  resigned  his  commission  in  the  army 
of  Northern  Virginia.  It  seemed  to  him  that 
he  did  not  have  justice  done  him  at  Richmond. 
lie  aspired,  with  the  ambition  of  a  soldier,  to 
be  promoted  in  his  country's  service.  His  con 
duct  at  Sharpsburg,  where  he  wrung  admiration 
from  his  superior  officers,  appeared  to  call  for 
recognition  from  the  President,  but  he  did  not 
receive  his  major-generalship,  and,  although  more 
than  once  in  the  actual  command  of  a  division, 
did  not  secure  that  title.  It  is  true  that  he 
would  have  liked  the  promotion ;  but  he  did 
not  expect  it.  He  had  written  to  his  wife  that 
he  would  not  be  driven  from  the  army  until 
after  some  great  battle,  when  he  should  have  the 
opportunity  of  doing  something  for  his  country. 
"The  day  after  such  an  event,  I  will  retire  if 
I  live  through  it."  The  battle  had  occurred,  his 
record  was  written  upon  the  stone  bridge  of 
Antietam,  and  his  work  was  at  an  end. 

Postmaster-General  Reagan  was  one  of  those 
who  recognized  the  merits  of  General  Toombs. 
Twice  did  he  approach  President  Davis  with  the 
request  that  General  Toombs  be  promoted  to  the 
command  of  a  division.  That  official  replied 
promptly  that  he  did  not  oppose  it  himself,  but 
that  he  could  not  do  it  without  the  recommenda 
tion  of  the  army  officers,  and  that  recommendation 
had  not  been  given.  Possibly  the  field  officers  be- 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN   VIRGINIA.  271 

lieved  the  suggestion  would  have  been  ungracious 
to  Mr.  Davis.  General  Toombs  had  not  hesitated 
to  criticise  the  policy  and  appointments  of  the 
Richmond  administration.  That  practice  had 
strained  his  relations  with  the  Confederate  Gov 
ernment,  but  Toonibs  was  a  man  who  "  would  not 
flatter  Neptune  for  his  trident." 

General  Toombs  was  not  a  trained  soldier,  but 
lie  had  some  fine  points  of  a  great  commander. 
He  was  the  soul  of  energy  and  common  sense. 
He  was  bold,  dashing,  magnetic.  He  had  the 
quality  of  infusing  his  spirit  into  his  men.  His 
quick  mind  seized  the  points  of  a  campaign,  and 
his  intellect  was  broad  and  overmastering.  It  is 
related  of  him  that  one  day  in  Virginia  he 
hurried  to  the  rear  for  a  conference  with  Jefferson 
Davis,  to  which  the  President  had  summoned  him, 
upon  some  point  of  civil  administration.  This 
business  over,  he  dashed  back  to  the  front,  where 
Ire  had  an  engagement  with  General  Lee  over  a  plan 
of  attack.  General  Longstreet  said  Toombs  had 
the  kindling  eye  and  rare  genius  of  a  soldier,  but 
lacked  the  discipline  of  a  military  man.  This 
was  the  serious  flaw  in  his  character.  He  had 
what  General  Johnston  declared  was  the  great 
drawback  about  the  Southern  soldier,  "a  large 
endowment  of  the  instinct  of  personal  liberty," 
and  it  was  difficult  to  subordinate  his  will  to 
the  needs  of  military  discipline.  He  had  been 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 


accustomed  to  priority,  and  in  whatever  com 
pany,  under  whatever  conditions  he  found  himself, 
his  had  been  the  part  to  lead  and  to  rule.  As 
Colonel  Thomas  W.  Thomas  had  said  of  him, 
"Toonibs  has  always  been  the  big  frog  in  the 
pond."  Men  conceded  to  him  this  prestige. 
Under  the  cast-iron  rule  of  the  army  he  found 
himself  subordinated  to  men  intellectually  be 
neath  him,  but  trained  and  skilled  in  the  art  of 
war.  He  was  swift  to  detect  error,  and  impatient 
in  combating  blunder.  The  rule  of  mediocrity, 
the  red  tape  of  the  service,  the  restraints  of  the 
corps,  the  tactics  of  the  field  galled  his  imperious 
spirit.  He  commanded  his  brigade  as  he  had  re 
presented  his  State  in  the  Senate  —  as  a  sovereign 
and  independent  body,  and  like  the  heroic  Helvet 
ian  had  blazoned  on  his  crest,  "JSTo  one  shall 
cross  me  with  impunity." 

Robert  Toombs  made  a  mistake  in  sinking  him 
self  in  the  routine  of  a  brigade  commander.  He 
should  have  taken  the  War  Department,  or,  like 
Pitt,  have  pushed  the  war  from  the  floor  of  the 
Senate.  Swinton  says  that  Abraham  Lincoln 
brought  the  habits  of  a  politician  to  military  affairs, 
in  which  their  intrusion  can  only  result  in  confu 
sion  of  just  relations.  There  is  ineradicable  antag 
onism  between  the  maxims  which  govern  politics 
and  those  which  govern  war. 

During  General  Toombs'  absence,  in  the  field, 
he  opposed  the  Conscript  Acts  of  the  Confederate 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  273 

administration.  He  believed  them  arbitrary  and 
unjust.  He  considered  that  this  was  a  tendency 
toward  centralization  which  the  Confederate 
Government  was  fighting ;  that  it  placed  too 
much  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man ;  that  it  was 
deadly  to  States'  Rights  and  personal  liberty,  and 
that  it  would  impair  the  efficiency  of  the  army  by 
lowering  its  patriotism.  The  champion  of  this 
anti-administration  policy  in  Georgia  was  Linton 
Stephens,  the  brother  of  the  vice  president. 
Toombs  in.  the  field,  the  elder  Stephens  in  Con 
gress,  and  Linton  Stephens  in  the  Georgia  Legis 
lature,  fought  the  Conscription  and  Impressment 
Acts.  Hon.  Joseph  E.  Brown,  the  war  Governor 
of  Georgia,  was  also  a  vigorous  opponent  of  this 
policy.  This  influence  gave  rise,  in  the  early  part 
of  1864,  to  the  Peace  Resolutions  of  Linton 
Stephens,  who  sustained  Governor  Brown  in  his 
policy,  to  inaugurate  State  action  for  "  the  preser 
vation  of  rights  and  the  attainment  of  peace." 
Linton  Stephens,  in  a  strong  letter  to  General 
Toombs  at  that  time,  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  since  the  war  began  neither  side  had  made 
any  effort  to  stop  the  effusion  of  blood.  He  be 
lieved  that  the  professional  soldiers  and  West  Point 
generals  would  never  permit  the  cessation  of  hostil 
ities.  Such  men,  he  thought,  would  not,  in  human 
nature,  desire  peace.  "  How  can  it  be  explained," 
he  wrote,  "  that  both  governments  have  fought  on 
during  these  long  years  of  blood  and  tears  and 


2  "4  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

desolation,  without  either  one  offering  terms  of 
peace,  and  with  both  running  a  swift  race  of  rivalry 
in  usurping  the  most  despotic  power  under  the 
ever-recurring  and  false  plea  of  necessities  of  war  ? 
Have  both  governments  formed  designs  that  can 
not  be  accomplished  in  peace,  and  which  seek 
opportunity  and  shelter  in  the  confusion  and  panic 
of  war?"  ' 

Mr.  Linton  Stephens  was  a  leading  lawyer  and 
legislator  in  Georgia.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
ability.  He  had  started  the  practice  of  law  in  the 
office  of  Robert"  Toonibs,  and  had  been  a  political 
follower  and  close  friend  of  the  great  Georgian. 
He  had  served  upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  his  State,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  his 
political  influence  was  probably  greater  than  that 
of  any  man  at  home.  He  was  fearless,  inflexible, 
high-toned,  and  full  of  power.  He  did  not  hesitate 
to  condemn  the  legislation  asked  for  by  Mr.  Davis, 
and  joined  Mr.  Toombs  in  opposing  the  appoint 
ment  of  General  Bragg  as  supervisor  of  all  military 
operations.  Mr.  Stephens  believed  that  the  next 
step  after  the  Impressment  Act  would  be  the 
organization  of  all  labor  into  a  military  system 
under  government  control. 

The  result  of  the  policy  of  Mr.  Davis  justified 
the  protest  of  the  Georgians,  but  there  is  nothing 
to  warrant  the  belief  that  Mr.  Davis  was  moving 
toward  military  despotism  or  that  he  relished  the 
continuance  of  strife.  He  saw  that  the  South  was 


IN  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA.  275 

in  for  the  war.  Desperate  situations  required 
desperate  remedies.  He  grasped  the  government 
with  a  strong  hand,  and  lacked  neither  nerve  nor 
patriotism.  The  principles  of  this  policy  were 
unsound,  but  the  motives  of  Jefferson  Davis  were 
pure.  Nor  was  there  reason  to  sustain  the  whole 
sale  denunciation  of  West  Point.  That  school  of 
soldiers  was  the  backbone  of  the  army,  and  the 
fact  that  so  many  Southern  men  gave  up  com 
missions  in  the  United  States  army  and  came  South 
when  their  States  seceded,  overthrew  the  idea  that 
they  were  tools  of  the  general  government  and  had 
lost  identity  or  sympathy  with  people  at  home. 
But  General  Toombs  was  bold  and  impatient  in 
his  positions. 

Equally  opposed  was  he  to  the  policy  adopted 
in  Georgia  of  recommending  the  planting  of  all 
grain  and  no  cotton.  From  Richmond  he  wrote 
in  March,  1864,  directions  to  his  brother  Gabriel 
Toombs,  who  managed  his  plantations  in  Wash 
ington  : 

I  do  not  care  to  change  my  crops.  I  wish  to  raise  an 
abundant  provision  crop  and  then  as  much  cotton  as  I 
can.  .  .  .  Brown's  and  Chambers'  policy  is  all  foolish 
ness.  .  .  .  As  to  what  I  shall  choose  to  plant  on  my  own 
estates,  I  shall  neither  refer  it  to  newspapers,  nor  to  public 
meetings,  nor  to  legislatures.  I  know  what  sort  of  people 
compose  these  classes.  Let  them  take  up  arms  and  come 
with  me  to  drive  the  intruders  away  from  our  soil,  and  then 
we  will  settle  what  sort  of  seed  we  will  put  into  it. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

WITH   THE    GEOKGIA    MILITIA. 

GENERAL  TOOMBS'  next  appearance  in  the  field 
was  as  adjutant  and  inspector-general  of  General 
G.  W.  Smith's  division  of  Georgia  militia.  He 
was  present  during  the  battles  before  Atlanta,  the 
engagement  at  Peachtree  Creek,  and  the  siege  of 
the  city.  General  J.  E.  Johnston  had  just  been 
relieved  from  command  of  the  Confederate  forces, 
and  General  J.  B.  Hood  placed  in  charge.  General 
Toombs  wrote  from  Atlanta : 

The  tone  of  the  army  has  greatly  improved.  We  are 
now  receiving  reinforcements  from  the  West.  Davis,  hav 
ing  kicked  Johnston  out,  now  feels  obliged  to  sustain  Hood, 
so  the  country  is  likely  to  get  good  out  of  evil.  General 
Hood  is  displaying  great  energy  and  using  his  best  exer 
tions  for  success/  I  think  very  well  of  him.  He  is  a  most 
excellent  man,  and  undoubtedly  of  great  military  talent. 
Whether  equal  or  not  to  this  great  struggle,  time  must, 
prove. 

The  militia  are  coming  up  finely.  Twelve  hun 
dred  of  them  arrived  here  this  evening,  armed  and 
tolerably  well  equipped.  Poor  fellows  !  They  are  green 
and  raw,  undisciplined  and  badly  officered.  It  keeps  us  at 
work  day  and  night  to  bring  order  out  of  this  confused 
mass,  and  we  have  but  a  poor  chance.  They  march  right 

370 


WITH  THE  GEORGIA  MILITIA.  277 

into  the  trenches,  and  are  immediately  under  the  enemy's 
fire  all  day.  We  shall  trust  to  a  kind  Providence  alone  to 
preserve  them  from  a  great  disaster,  and  make  them  useful 
to  the  army  and  the  country.  The  pressure  is  so  great  that 
we  are  compelled  to  put  them  to  the  work  of  veterans  with 
out  an  hour's  preparation.  I  am  doing  my  utmost  to  get 
them  in  the  best  possible  position.  Georgians  are  all  com 
ing  up  well  except  the  cities. 

Speaking  of  men  who  try  to  shirk  duty,  Mr. 
Toonibs  wrote,  "  Poor  creatures !  What  do  they 
want  to  live  for  ?  " 

General  Toonibs  had  the  task  of  organizing  the 
recruits  and  getting  them  ready  for  the  field.  He 
writes  to  his  wife  :  "  Since  I  began  this  letter,  the 
Yankees  have  begun  an  attack  on  a  part  of  our 
line  and  I  was  obliged  to  ride  with  General  Hood 
to  look  after  our  defenses."  General  Toombs 
alludes  to  General  E.  C.  Walthall  of  Mississippi, 
as  "  a  splendid  officer  and  a  gentleman."  He  says  : 
"  The  enemy  are  evidently  intending  to  starve  us 
rather  than  to  fight  us  out.  I  have,  at  the  request 
of  General  Hood,  not  less  than  twenty  letters  to 
write  on  that  very  subject.  Sherman  shells  the 
town  furiously  every  day.  Not  much  damage 
yet." 

It  has  been  customary  to  speak  in  light  terms  of 
the  Georgia  militia,  who,  late  in  the  day,  took  the 
field  to  man  the  defenses  when  Sherman  was  march 
ing  to  the  sea.  They  were  frequently  made  up  of 
old  men  and  boys  who  had  been  exempt  from  the 


278  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

regular  service,  and  these  were  hurried  into  action 
with  poor  equipment  and  scant  preparation.  Gen 
eral  Toombs,  in  a  letter  written  to  his  wife,  July 
25,  1864,  says: 

The  militia  have  behaved  with  great  gallantry.  This  is 
sincerely  true.  They  have  far  exceeded  my  expectations, 
and  in  the  fight  on  Thursday  equaled  any  troops  in  the  line 
of  battle.  If  they  will  stand  and  fight  like  men,  our  homes 
will  be  saved.  God  give  them  the  spirit  of  men,  and  all 
will  be  well ! 

In  another  place  he  writes : 

We  have  a  mixed  crowd,  a  large  number  of  earnest, 
brave,  true  men  ;  then  all  the  shirks  and  skulks  in  Georgia 
trying  to  get  from  under  bullets. 

General  Toornbs  commended  and  endorsed  the 
policy  of  Governor  Brown  during  his  six  years' 
administration  of  the  office  from  1857  to  1863. 
These  two  men  were  warm  friends  and  political 
allies.  When  Governor  Brown's  third  term  was 
drawing  to  a  close,  he  preferred  the  selection  of 
General  Toombs  as  his  successor.  But  Toombs 
declined  to  make  the  race.  His  game  now  was 
war,  not  politics.  He  preferred  the  field  to  the 
Cabinet.  He  writes  with  considerable  feeling  this 
letter  to  his  wife : 

Whatever  fate  may  befall  me,  I  feel  that  this  is  my  place, 
in  the  field  and  with  the  militia,  with  the  men  who  own  the 
country  and  who  are  struggling  to  preserve  it  for  their 
children.  I  am  truly  thankful  to  God  for  the  health  he 
has  given  me  to  enable  me  to  perform  my  part  of  this  work. 


WITH  THE  GEORGIA  MILITIA.  279 

He  called  all  the  sons  of  Georgia  to  come,  even 
to  "  die  together  rather  than  let  the  Yankee  over 
run  and  conquer  Georgia."  He  concludes  a  letter 
of  appeal : 

Better  be 

Where  the  unconquered  Spartans  still  are  free, 
In  their  proud  charnel  of  Thermopylae. 

General  Toombs'  last  military  service,  after  the 
fall  of  Atlanta,  was   on   the    20th   of   December, 
1864,  when  as  adjutant  and  inspector-general  he 
served  in  General  G.  W.  Smith's  division,  Georgia 
militia,  at  the  siege  of  Savannah.     General  Dick 
Taylor,  in  his  "  Destruction  and  Reconstruction," 
gives   a    very    graphic    description    of    General 
Toombs'  energy.      The  Georgia   militia  had  left 
Macon  for  Savannah,  and.  to  avoid  capture  by  the 
resistless  column  of  Sherman's  army,  then  march 
ing  to  the  sea,  was  shipped  by  way  of  Thomas- 
ville.     The  trains  were  sometimes  slow  in  moving, 
and  to  General  Taylor,  who  was  anxious  to  mass 
all    forces    at    Savannah,  the  delay  was    galling. 
When  Toombs  came  up,  he  "damned  the  dawdling 
trainmen,  and  pretty  soon  infused  his  own  nerv 
ous  force  into  the  whole  concern.     The  wheezing 
engines  and  freight  vans  were  readily  put  in  mo 
tion,  and   Governor   Brown's    l  army '    started   to 
ward  Savannah."     News  reached  General  Taylor 
about  that  time  that  the  Federal   forces    at  Port 
Royal  were  coming  up  to  capture  Pocotaligo  on 


280  ROBERT  TOOMB8. 

the  Charleston  and  Savannah  road.  This  was  a 
dangerous  move,  as  General  Taylor  was  anxious 
to  hold  this  line  for  coast  defense.  He  needed 
reinforcements  to  hold  this  point,  and  at  once 
thought  of  "Joe  Brown's  Army."  The  position 
of  Governor  Brown  was,  however,  as  General 
Taylor  understood  it,  that  Georgia  troops  were  to 
be  held  to  guard  Georgia  soil.  This  was  one  of 
the  points  in  his  discussion  with  Mr.  Davis.  Gen 
eral  Taylor  consulted  with  General  Toombs,  how 
ever,  and  they  arranged  to  have  the  Georgia 
militia  "  shunted  oft*  at  a  switch  near  Savannah 
and  transported  quietly  to  Carolina."  At  Pocotal- 
igo  these  troops  had  a  lively  brush  with  the 
Union  forces  and  succeeded  in  holding  the  rail 
road.  The  Georgians  were  plucky  whether  at 
home  or  abroad,  but  General  Taylor  declared  that 
Toornbs  enjoyed  his  part  in  making  them  "  uncon 
scious  patriots." 

Sherman's  march  to  the  sea  was  the  concluding 
tragedy  of  the  Civil  War.  The  State  which  had 
been  at  the  forefront  of  the  revolution  had  be 
come  the  bloody  theater  of  battle.  From  the 
Tennessee  Kiver  to  Atlanta,  Sherman  and  Johns 
ton  had  grappled  with  deadly  fury  down  the 
mountain  defiles;  then  Cheatham  and  Wheeler 
harassed  him  at  Macon  and  united  for  a  final 
siege  of  Savannah.  The  granaries  and  workshops 
of  the  Confederacy  were  gone  when  Georgia  was 


WITH  THE  GEORGIA  MILITIA.  281 

devastated — as  General  Lord  Wolseley  said,  Sher 
man's  invasion  was  a  sword  thrust  through  the 
vitals  of  the  young  nation.  Robert  Toombs  had 
followed  his  own  idea  of  meeting  the  invader 
as  soon  as  he  struck  an  inch  of  State  soil  and 
fighting  him  as  long  as  a  man  remained.  From 
the  fruitless  defense  of  Savannah,  Toombs  hast 
ened  to  discuss  the  situation  with  Governor 
Brown.  He  happened  to  be  dining  with  him 
that  April  day  when  the  news  came  of  the  surren 
der  at  Appomattox.  The  two  men  looked  at 
each  other  intently,  when  they  realized  that  all 
was  over. 

Toombs  and  Brown  had  been  closely  allied 
since  the  day  that  the  latter  was  nominated  for 
Governor  in  1857.  They  had  fought  campaigns 
together.  Toombs  had  sustained  Governor 
Brown's  war  policy  almost  to  the  letter.  Now 
they  shook  hands  and  parted.  Henceforth  their 
paths  diverged.  Days  of  bitterness  put  that 
friendship  to  an  end.  Both  men  worked  his 
course  during  reconstruction  as  he  saw  fit.  But 
political  differences  deepened  almost  into  personal 
feud. 

General  Toombs  repaired  to  his  home  in  Wash 
ington  and,  on  the  4th  of  May,  1865,  Jefferson 
Davis,  his  Cabinet  and  staff,  having  retreated  from 
Richmond  to  Danville,  thence  to  Greensboro,  K  C., 
and  Abbeville,  S.  C.,  rode  across  the  country  with 


282  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

an  armed  escort  to  Washington.  Ga.     Here,  in  the 

O  /  " 

old  Heard  House,  the  last  meeting  of  the  Confeder 
ate  Cabinet  was  held.  The  members  separated, 
and  the  civil  government  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  passed  into  history.  There  were  present 
John  C.  Breckenridge,  Secretary  of  War ;  John 
H.  Reagan,  Postmaster-General,  besides  the  mem 
bers  of  Mr.  Davis'  staff.  The  Confederate  Presi 
dent  was  worn  and  jaded.  He  looked  pale  and 
thin,  but  was  plucky  to  the  last.  After  the  sur 
render  of  Lee  and  Johnston,  he  wanted  to  keep  up 
the  warfare  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  and  in 
the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  but  he  was 
finally  persuaded  that  the  Confederacy  must  cease 
'to  struggle.  On  the  public  square  of  Washington 
the  little  brick  house,  with  its  iron  rail  and  its  red 
walls,  is  still  pointed  out  to  the  visitor  as  the  spot 
where  the  Davis  government  dissolved.  It  was  a 
dramatic  fate  which  determined  its  dissolution  at 
the  home  of  Robert  Toombs.  He  had  been  present 
at  its  birth.  His  had  been  one  of  the  leading 

o 

spirits  of  the  revolution.  He  had  served  it  in  the 
Cabinet  and  field,  he  had  been  pressed  for  the  posi 
tion  of  its  chief  magistracy,  and  now  in  the  shadow 
of  his  own  rooftree  its  concluding  council  was 
held.  General  Reagan  was  a  guest  of  General 
Toonibs  during  his  stay  in  Washington,  as  was 
General  St.  John  and  Major  Raphael  J.  Moses, 
who  had  been  a  member  of  Toombs1  staff.  In 


WITH  THE  GEORGIA  MILITIA.  283 

the  evening  General  Toombs  called  General  Reagan 
into  a  room  by  himself  and  inquired  whether  the 
latter  needed  any  money.     General  Reagan  said 
he  had  money  enough  to  take  him  to  Texas.     Then 
General   Toombs   inquired   after   Mr.  Davis,  and 
asked  whether  he  had  any  money.     "  I  told  him 
no,"  says    General    Reagan,    "but    that    I   had 
money     enough     to     take     us     both     West    of 
of    the    Mississippi,    and     had    told   Mr.    Davis 
so.     I  had  no  doubt  but  that  he  would  rely  on 
that."     General  Toombs  then  asked  if  Mr.  Davis 
was  well  mounted.     "  I  told  him  yes,  that  he  had 
his  bay  horse  Kentucky,   and  that  after  the  sur 
render  General  Lee  had  sent  his  fine  gray  Trav 
eler,  by  his  son  Robert,  around  through  Lynchburg 
to  Mr.  Davis  at  Greenesboro,  N.  C."     "  Well,"  said 
General  Toombs,  with  thoughtfulness,  "Davis  and 
I  had  a  quarrel  once,  but  that  is  over  now.     I  am 
at  home  and  can  command  money  and  men,  and  if 
Mr.  Davis  wants  anything,  I  shall  be  glad  to  fur 
nish  it."     General  Toombs  added  that  under  terms 
of  the  convention  between  Sherman  and  Johnston, 
Mr.  Davis  was  entitled  to  go  where  he  pleased 
between  that  point  and  the  Chattahoochee  River. 
"  I  wish  you  would  say  to  Mr.  Davis,"  said  Toombs, 
in  his  bluff  way,  "that,  if  necessary,  I  will  call  my 
men  around  me  and  see  him  safe  to  the  Chatta 
hoochee  at  the  risk  of  my  life." 

On  his  return   to  the  hotel  Mr.  Reagan  gave 


284  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

General  Toombs'  message  to  Mr.  Davis,  and  told 
the  latter  of  the  inquiries  and  offers.  "That  is 
like  Toombs,"  said  Mr.  Davis.  "  He  was  always 
a  whole-souled  man." 

The  four  men  whom  the  Washington  govern 
ment  wanted  to  arrest  and  hold  responsible  for 
the  war  were  Toombs,  Davis,  Slidell,  and  Howell 
Cobb.  Their  friends  understood  this  perfectly, 
and  each  man  was  urged  to  make  his  escape. 
Jefferson  Davis  was  arrested  in  Irwin  County, 
Ga.,  on  May  10.  He  was  rapidly  making  his 
way  to  the  West,  and  was  trying  to  reach  Texas. 
How  General  Toombs  finally  escaped  must  be  re 
served  for  a  more  extended  recital. 

General  Toombs  and  Mr.  Davis  never  met  but 
once  after  the  war.  It  was  unexpected,  dramatic. 
Some  years  after  General  Toombs  had  returned 
from  his  long  exile,  and  Mr.  Davis  was  just 
back  from  his  trip  to  England,  the  ex-presi 
dent  visited  Lookout  Mountain,  Tennessee,  the 
guest  of  the  poet  Sidney  Lanier.  He  here  ap 
peared  at  his  best  in  the  company  of  sympa 
thetic  and  admiring  friends,  and  charmed  every 
one  by  his  polish  and  learning.  The  day  before 
Jefferson  Davis  left,  General  and  Mrs.  Toombs  ar 
rived  at  the  mountain.  Mr.  Davis  was,  at  that 
time,  absent  on  a  horseback  trip.  He  was  fond  of 
riding,  and  had  gone  over  to  see  some  of  the  fine 
views  of  the  mountain  and  to  inspect  the  fields 


WITH  THE  GEORGIA  MILITIA.  285 

where  recent  battles  had  raged  with  so  much  fury. 
The  hotel  was  kept  by  a  Northern  man  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  relations  between  Mr.  Davis  and 
General  Toombs,  and  he  believed  the  thing  to  do 
was  to  put  General  and  Mrs.  Toombs  in  a  vacant 
room  of  the  cottage  occupied  by  Mr.  Davis.  It 
was  a  small  house,  with  a  piazza  extending  along 
the  front.  It  so  happened  that  the  Toombses,  who 
had  just  learned  of  Mr.  Davis'  presence  at  the 
hotel,  were  sitting  on  the  piazza  chatting  with 
friends  when  Mr.  Davis  came  up.  Mr.  Davis  had 
also  heard  of  General  Toombs'  arrival  at  the  hotel, 
but  neither  knew  that  the  other  was  domiciled  in  the 
same  cottage.  To  General  Toombs  the  appearance 
was  as  if  Mr.  Davis  had  come  at  once  to  make  a 
cordial  call.  No  one  could  be  more  hospitable 
and  polite  than  Toombs,  and  this  apparent  chal 
lenge  to  friendship  brought  out  the  best  side  of 
his  nature.  The  men  met  with  considerable 
warmth.  From  General  Toombs  Mr.  Davis  ad 
vanced  to  Mrs.  Toombs.  Between  these  two  the 
meeting  was  profoundly  affecting.  He  embraced 
her  tenderly.  Toombs  and  Davis  had  been  friends 
and  neighbors  years  ago  in  Washington  City,  and 
Mr.  Davis  had  been  extremely  fond  of  Mr. 
Toombs'  family.  The  distinguished  party  soon 
fell  into  friendly  conversation.  Next  day  Mr. 
Davis  left  Lookout  Mountain.  He  never  met 
Robert  Toombs  again. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

TOOMBS    AS    A    FUGITIVE. 

AT  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  Secretary  Stanton 
issued  specific  orders  for  the  arrest  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  and  Robert  Toombs. 
Mr.  Stephens  was  arrested  quietly  at  his  own 
home  in  Crawfordville  on  the  12th  of  May,  1865, 
two  days  after  Mr.  Davis  had  been  overtaken. 
On  the  same  day  a  squad  of  soldiers,  most  of  them 
negroes,  reached  Washington,  Ga.  They  were 
commanded  by  General  Wilde,  and  their  orders 
were  to  take  General  Toombs  in  charge.  One  of 
the  colored  troops  marched  up  town  with  the 
photograph  of  Toombs,  which  they  had  procured 
to  identify  him,  impaled  upon  his  bayonet.  Gen 
eral  Toombs  was,  at  the  time,  in  his  private  office 
at  his  residence.  Hearing  the  noise  in  his  yard, 
he  walked  out  of  his  basement  to  the  corner  of  his 
front  steps.  There  he  perceived  the  squad  and 
divined  their  purpose.  "  By  God,  the  bluecoats ! " 
was  all  he  said.  Walking  quickly  through  his 
back  lot,  he  strode  across  his  plantation  and  dis 
appeared.  By  this  time  the  guard  was  clamoring 
at  the  front  door,  and  Mrs.  Toombs  went  out  to 
meet  them.  "Where  is  General  Toombs?"  the 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  287 

commander  asked.  "He  is  not  here,"  the  lady 
answered  firmly.  A  parley  ensued,  during  which 
Mrs.  Toombs  managed  to  detain  the  men  long 
enough  to  enable  her  husband  to  get  out  of  sight, 
"Unless  General  Toombs  is  produced,  I  shall  burn 
the  house,"  retorted  the  officer.  Mrs.  Toombs 
blanched  a  little  at  this,  but,  biting  her  lip,  she 
turned  on  her  heel,  and  coolly  replied :  "  Very  well, 
burn  it."  Among  the  listeners  to  this  colloquy 
was  a  young  man  just  returned  from  the  Con 
federate  army.  He  was  moved  with  indignation. 
He  still  wore  the  gray  jacket,  and  was  deeply  anx 
ious  for  the  Toombs  family.  He  had  been  a 
neighbor  to  them  all  his  life,  as  had  liis  father 
before  him,  and  he  shared  the  pride  which  the 
village  felt  for  its  most  distinguished  resident. 

He  was  the  son  of  Hon.  I.  T.  Irvin,  a  prominent 
public  man  and  lifelong  friend  of  General  Toombs. 
Preparations  were  made  for  the  threatened  fire. 
General  Toombs  did  not  come  out.  Furniture 
was  moved  and  papers  destroyed,  but  the  young 
Confederate  was  soon  convinced  that  the  threat 
was  a  mere  bluff.  Believed  on  that  point,  his 
loyal  spirit  yearned  toward  the  fugitive.  Charles 
E.  Irvin  was  the  name  of  the  young  man,  and  he 
had  seen  service  in  the  artillery  under  Longstreet. 
Not  yet  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  fired  with 
ardor  and  devotion,  and  had  already  resolved  to 
aid  General  Toombs  in  escaping. 


288  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Eiding  over   to  a  neigbor's   house,   Mr.  J.  T. 
Wingfield,  lie  failed  to  find  his  friend,   but  left 
word  for  General  Toombs  to  let  him  know  where  to 
meet  him  with  his  horses.     That  night  about  two 
o'clock  Lieutenant  Irvin  got  word  from  General 
Toombs  to  bring  his  horse  to  Nick  Chenault's  by 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning.      This  was  a  farm 
about  eighteen  miles  from  Washington,  near  the 
Broad  Kiver.     Here  General  Toombs  mounted  his 
trusted  horse  and  felt  at  home.     It  was  the  famous 
mare  Gray  Alice,  which  had  carried  him  through 
all  his  campaigns.     He  had  ridden  her  during  the 
charges  at  Antietam,  and  she  had  borne  him  from 
the  fire  of  the  scouts  the  night  he  had  received  his 
wound.     Once  more  he  pressed  her  into  service, 
and  Robert  Toombs,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life, 
was  a  fugitive.     This  man,  who  commanded  men 
and  had  gained  his  own  way  by  sheer  brain  and 
combativeness,   fled   by   stealth  from   a   dreaded 
enemy.    It  was  a  new  role  for  Toombs.    His  plucky 
young  guide  was  resolved  to  accompany  him  in  his 
flight — it  might  be  to  his  death ;   it  was  all  the 
same  to  Lieutenant    Irvin.     Riding   swiftly  into 
Elbert  County,  the  two  men  crossed  over  to  Har 
rison  Landing,  a  picturesque  spot  on  the  Savannah 
River.    Here  dwelt  an  old  man,  Alexander  LeSeur, 
who  led  something  of  a  hermit's  life.     Before  the 
war  he  had  been  a  "  Know-nothing,"  and  had  been 
exposed  to  Toombs'  withering  fire  upon  that  class 


M 

*T  S 

11 

is 


i 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  289 

of  politicians.  LeSeur  met  the  fugitive  with  a 
laugh  and  a  friendly  oath.  "You  have  been 
fighting  me  for  forty  years,"  he  said,  "  and  now 
that  you  are  in  trouble,  I  am  the  first  man  you 
seek  for  protection." 

General  Toonibs  had  not  traveled  too  fast.  The 
country  was  swarming  with  raiders.  News  of  the 
capture  of  Davis  and  Stephens  had  fired  these 
men  with  desire  to  overhaul  the  great  champion 
of  secession.  A  Federal  major,  commanding  a 
force  of  men,  put  up  at  Tate's  residence,  just  op 
posite  the  hermit's  island.  While  there,  a  negro 
from  the  LeSeur  place  informed  the  officer  that 
some  prominent  man  was  at  the  house.  "If  it 
ain't  Jeff  Davis,  it  is  just  as  big  a  man,"  said  he. 
The  hint  was  taken.  The  island  was  surrounded 
and  carefully  watched,  but  when  the  party  went 
over  to  capture  Toombs,  the  game  was  gone. 

General  Toonibs  now  started  out  carefully  up 
the  Savannah  River.  In  Elbert,  he  was  in  the 
hands  of  his  friends.  This  county,  which  had 
first  encouraged  the  struggles  bf  the  young  law. 
yer,  which  had  followed  him  steadfastly  in  his 
political  fortunes,  which  had  furnished  soldiers 
for  his  brigade,  now  supplied  protectors  at  every 
step.  Before  leaving  this  county  he  was  initiated 
into  a  Masonic  lodge,  and  took  the  first  degrees  of 
the  order.  More  than  once  the  signs  and  symbols 
of  the  mystic  brotherhood  stood  him  in  good  stead 


290  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

on  this  eventful  trip.  He  was  afterward  a  high 
Mason,  and  remained  to  his  death  a  devoted 
friend  of  the  order. 

Continuing  his  journey  alone  he  stopped  at 
the  Tugaloo  Eiver  in  Habersham  County,  and  re 
mained  at  the  house  of  Colonel  Prather  until  Lieu 
tenant  Irvin,  whom  he  had  sent  back  to  Wash 
ington  -with  letters,  could  rejoin  him  with  funds 
and  clothing.  Here  his  young  companion  soon 
found  him,  bringing,  besides  letters  from  home, 
some  astonishing  news. 

"General,"  said  Lieutenant  Irvin,  "what  do 
you  think  ?  Your  friend  General  Joseph  E. 
Brown  has  sold  out  the  State  of  Georgia,  and 
gone  over  to  the  Republican  party." 

Toombs  glared  at  him  savagely. 

"For  the  first  time  on  this  trip,"  says  Lieuten 
ant  Irviu,  "he  looked  like  he  wanted  to  kill  me. 
He  brought  his  fist  down  heavily  upon  the  table 
and  said :  <  By  God,  I  don't  believe  it ! ' 

"  'Well  here  it  is  in  black  and  white.' " 

Lieutenant  Irvin  gave  him  the  paper  in  which 
was  printed  Governor  Brown's  famous  address  to 
the  people  of  Georgia. 

"  This  news,"  said  Lieutenant  Irvin,  "  absolutely 
sent  the  old  man  to  bed." 

Toombs  remained  a  week  at  Colonel  Prather's, 
and  in  the  meantime  sent  Lieutenant  Irvin  to 
Savannah  with  important  letters.  He  desired  to 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  291 

escape,  if  possible,  through,  the  port  of  Savannah. 
The  Savannah  friends  were  not  at  home,  how 
ever,  and  Lieutenant  Irviu,  bearing  these  import 
ant  letters,  actually  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

He  was. a  high-strung,  plucky  young  fellow,  and 
was  reproved  by  a  Federal  officer  for  continuing 
to  wear  brass  buttons.  Irviu  retorted  sharply,  and 
was  hurried  into  prison.  Fearing  that  he  would 
be  searched  and  his  papers  found,  he  slipped  them 
to  a  friend,  undetected  by  the  guard.  After  re 
maining  in  prison  for  several  hours,  Lieutenant  Ir- 
vin  was  released  and  censured  by  the  officer,  who 
reminded  him  that  there  were  bayonets  about  him. 

"Yes,"  retorted  young  Irvin,  "and  brave  men 
always  avail  themselves  of  such  advantages." 

Trudging  back  from  Savannah,  Lieutenant  Ir 
vin  found  General  Toornbs  at  the  Rembert  place, 
near  Tallalah  Falls.  This  was  a  beautiful  home 
in  a  wild,  picturesque  country,  where  Toombs  was 
less  liable  to  capture  than  in  middle  Georgia, 
and  where  he  was  less  known  to  the  people.  Gen 
eral  Toombs  had  already  procured  the  parole 
papers  of  Major  Luther  Martin,  of  Elbert  County, 
a  friend  and  member  of  his  former  command.  He 
traveled  under  that  name,  and  was  so  addressed 
by  his  young  companion  all  along  the  route.  Gen 
eral  Toombs  passed  the  time  deer-hunting  in  Hab- 
ersham.  He  had  the  steady  hand  and  fine  eye  of 


292  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

a  sportsman,  and  he  was  noted  for  his  horseman 
ship  and  endurance. 

Returning  toward  Washington  through  Elbert 
County,  General  Toombs  decided  to  spend  a  night 
with  Major  Martin.  Lieutenant  Irvin  stoutly  op 
posed  this  and  warned  him  that  if  the  enemy  were 
to  look  for  him  anywhere,  it  would  certainly  be 
at  Martin's  house.  Turning  down  the  road,  he 
finally  concluded  to  put  up  at  the  house  of  Colonel 
W.  H.  Mattox.  It  was  well  he  did.  That  night 
a  party  of  thirty  soldiers  raided  the  Martin  planta 
tion  on  a  hot  trail,  and  searched  thoroughly  for 
Toombs. 

During  his  travels  General  Toombs  did  not  wear 
a  disguise  of  any  sort.  Dressed  in  a  checked  suit, 
and  riding  his  gray  mare,  he  was  a  prominent  ob 
ject,  and  to  most  of  the  people  was  well  known. 
One  day  he  wore  green  goggles,  but  soon  threw 
them  away  in  disgust.  The  nearness  of  troops 
forced  General  Toombs  to  abandon  his  plan  of 
going  home  for  his  family  before  leaving  the  coun 
try.  He  dispatched  Lieutenant  Irvin  to  Wash 
ington  with  letters  to  his  wife,  telling  her  that  he 
would  not  see  her  again  until  he  had  gone  abroad, 
when  he  would  send  for  her  to  join  him.  He  him 
self  passed  through  Centreville,  twelve  miles  from 
his  home,  and  directed  his  young  guide  where  to 
meet  him  in  middle  Georgia.  This  Lieutenant 
Irvin  found  it  very  hard  to  do.  General  Toombs 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  293 

was  very  discreet  as  to  whom  he  took  into  his 
confidence.  Once  or  twice  he  cautioned  his 
companion  against  certain  parties,  to  the  surprise 
of  the  young  man.  Toombs,  however,  read  human 
nature  pretty  well,  and,  later,  when  the  real  char 
acter  of  these  persons  developed,  Irvin  understood 
the  counsels  of  his  older  friend.  So  carefully  did 
General  Toombs  cover  his  tracks  that  Lieutenant 
Irvin,  after  his  detour  to  Washington,  was  a  long 
time  in  overtaking  him.  Traveling  straight  to 
Sparta,  Lieutenant  Irvin  called  on  Judge  Linton 
Stephens  and  asked  about  the  general.  This 
shrewd  Georgian  came  to  the  door  and  flatly  de 
nied  knowing  anything  about  Toombs. 

"He  questioned  me  closely,"  said  Lieutenant 
Irvin,  "  and  finding  that  I  was  really  who  I  pre 
tended  to  be,  finally  agreed  to  take  me  to  Toombs. 
Riding  down  to  Old-Town,  in  Jefferson  County, 
we  failed  to  find  Toombs,  but  receiving  a  clew  that 
he  had  passed  through  the  David  Dickson  planta 
tion  in  Hancock  County,  I  accosted  Mr.  AVorthen, 
the  manager.  i  Has  an  old  man  riding  a  gray  horse 
passed  this  way/  Worth  en  was  asked.  He 
promptly  answered,  'No.'  Believing  that  he  was 
deceiving  me,  I  questioned  him  more  closely." 

Worthen  tried  to  persuade  the  young  man  to 
get  down  and  take  some  plums.  He  was  evidently 
anxious  to  detain  him.  Finally  he  eyed  the  stranger 
more  closely,  and,  convinced  that  he  was  the  com- 


294  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

panion  whom  Toombs  expected,  he  confessed  that 
General  Toombs  had  been  at  his  place  and  was 
then  at  the  home  of  Major  Gonder  in  Washing 
ton  County. 

Lieutenant  Irvin  had  ridden  over  two  hundred 
miles  in  this  search  and  lost  two  or  three  days  out 
of  his  way.  Toombs  covered  his  trail  so  care 
fully  that  it  was  difficult  even  for  his  friends  to 
find  him.  Small  wonder  that  he  was  not  captured 
by  the  enemy. 

Lieutenant  Irvin  was  not  yet  "out  of  the 
woods."  Reaching  the  home  of  Major  Gonder 
late  in  the  evening,  he  rode  up  to  the  front  fence, 
fifty  yards  from  the  dwelling.  Mrs.  Gonder  and  her 
daughter  were  sitting  on  the  piazza.  Lieutenant 
Irvin  asked  the  usual  question  about  the  old 
man  and  the  gray  horse.  The  lady  replied  that 
she  knew  nothing  about  them. 

Lieutenant  Irvin  said  :  "  But  I  was  directed  to 
this  place." 

Mrs.  Gonder :  "  I  should  like  to  know  who  sent 


you." 


Lieutenant  Irvin:  "But  has  no  one  passed  or 
stopped  here,  answering  my  description  ?  " 

Both  ladies  were  now  considerably  worked  up ; 
the  younger  scarcely  suppressed  her  amuse 
ment. 

"  Come,  ladies,"  said  Lieutenant  Irvin,  "  I  see 
you  both  know  more  than  you  will  confess." 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  295 

"  If  I  do,  I  will   die  before  I  tell  it,"  naively 
replied  the  elder. 

"  Now  I  know  you  know  where  General  Toonibs 


is." 


"  Then  get  it  out  of  me  if  you  can." 

Finally  the  young  man  persuaded  her  that  he 
was  the  friend  of  Toombs,  and  Mrs.  Gonder  re 
luctantly  directed  him  to  Colonel  Jack  Smith's 
over  on  the  Oconee  River. 

Riding  up  to  Colonel  Smith's,  his  valiant  pur 
suer  spied  General  Toonibs  through  the  window. 
The  head  of  the  house,  however,  denied  that 
Toonibs  was  there  at  all. 

"But  that  looks  very  much  like  him  through 
the  window  "  said  Lieutenant  Irvin. 

"  Young  man,"  retorted  Colonel  Smith,  "  what 
is  your  name  ? " 

Of  course  this  disclosure  led  to  the  reunion  of 
the  fugitive  and  his  friend. 

Toonibs  realized  that  he  was  in  almost  as  much 
danger  from  his  own  friends  as  from  the  enemy. 
He  was  careful  to  whom  he  disclosed  his  identity 
or  his  plans,  for  fear  that  they  might  indiscreetly 
comment  on  his  presence  or  embarass  him  even  by 
their  willingness  to  befriend  him.  So  it  was  that 

O 

he  proceeded  secretly,  picking  his  way  by  stealth, 
and  actually  doing  much  of  his  travel  by  night. 

At  the  home  of  Colonel  Jack  Smith,  the  two 
men  remained  a  week  to  rest  their  horses  and  take 


296  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

their  bearings.  General  Toonibs  spent  much 
time  on  the  Oconee  trolling  for  trout,  while  bodies 
of  Union  cavalry  were  watching  the  ferries 
and  guarding  the  fords,  seining  for  bigger  fish. 

Passing  into  Wilkinson  County,  General 
Toombs  stopped  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Joseph  Deas. 
When  Lieutenant  Irvin  asked  if  the  pair  could 
come  in,  Deas  replied,  "Yes,  if  you  can  put  up 
with  the  fare  of  a  man  who  subsists  in  Sherman's 
track." 

A  maiden  sister  of  Deas  lived  in  the  house. 
With  a  Avoman's  sensitive  ear,  she  recognized  Gen 
eral  Toombs'  voice,  having  heard  him  speak  at 
Toombsboro  seventeen  years  before.  This  discov 
ery,  she  did  not  communicate  to  her  brother  until 
after  the  guests  had  retired.  Deas  had  been  dis 
cussing  politics  with  Toombs,  and  his  sister  asked 
him  if  he  knew  to  whom  he  had  been  talking  all 
night  ?  Deas  said  he  did  not. 

"  Joe  Deas,"  she  said,  "  are  you  a  fool  ?  Don't 
you  know  that  is  General  Toombs  ? " 

Strange  to  say,  a  negro  on  the  place,  just  as 
they  were  leaving,  cried  out  "Good-by,  Marse 
Bob."  He  had  driven  the  family  to  the  speaking 
seventeen  years  before,  and  had  not  forgotten  the 
man  who  defended  slavery  on  that  day. 

"Good  Lord!"  said  Toombs,  "go  give  that 
negro  some  money." 

This  same  negro  had  been  strung  up  by  the 


TOO  MBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  207 

thumbs  by  Sherman's  troops  a  few  months  before 
because  he  would  not  tell  where  his  master's 
mules  were  hidden.  He  piloted  General  Toombs 
through  the  woods  to  the  home  of  Colonel  David 
Hughes,  a  prominent  and  wealthy  farmer  of 
Twiggs  County.  Colonel  Hughes  had  been  in 
Toombs'  brigade,  and  the  general  remained  with 
him  a  week. 

General  Toombs  was  sitting  on  the  piazza  of 

Colonel  Hu^hes's  house  one  afternoon  when  an 

~ 

old  soldier  asked  permission  to  come  in.  He  still 
wore  the  gray,  and  was  scarred  and  begrimed. 
He  eyed  General  Toombs  very  closely,  and  seemed 
to  hang  upon  his  words.  He  heard  him  ad 
dressed  as  Major  Martin,  and  finally,  when  he 
arose  to  leave,  wrung  the  general's  hand. 

"Major  Martin,"  he  said,  brushing  the  tears 
from  his  eyes,  "  I'm  mighty  glad  to  see  you.  I 
wish  to  God  I  could  do  something  for  you." 

At  the  gate  he  turned  to  Colonel  Hughes  and 
said :  •"  I  know  who  that  is.  It  is  General 
Toombs.  You  can't  fool  me." 

"  Why  do  you  think  so  ?"  Colonel  Hughes  asked. 

u  Oh,  I  remember  Gray  Alice  jumping  the  stone 
walls  at  Sharpsburg  too  well  to  forget  the  rider 


now." 


"  Colonel,"  he  continued,  "  this  morning  a  man 
near  here,  who  is  a  Republican  and  an  enemy  of 
General  Toombs,  thought  he  recognized  him  near 


ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

your  house.  Pie  saw  him  two  hundred  yards 
away.  I  heard  him  say  he  believed  it  was  Toombs 
and  he  wished  he  had  his  head  shot  off.  I  came 
here  to-night  to  see  for  myself.  You  tell  General 
Toombs  that  if  he  says  the  word,  I  will  kill  that 
scoundrel  as  sure  as  guns." 

The  veteran  was  persuaded,  however,  to  keep 
quiet  and  do  nothing  of  the  sort. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Lieutenant  Irvin  found 
that  the  ferries  of  the  Ocmulgee  Eiver  were 
guarded  from  one  end  to  the  other.  Near  this 
place  Davis  had  been  captured  and  the  Union 
troops  were  on  a  sharp  lookout  for  Toombs.  Con 
vinced  that  further  travel  might  be  hazardous, 
General  Toombs  and  his  friend  rode  back  to  the 
mountains  of  North  Georgia,  and  there  remained 
until  the  early  fall.  It  was  in  the  month  of  Octo 
ber  that  the  fugitives  again  started  on  their  check 
ered  flight.  The  May  days  had  melted  into 
summer,  and  summer  had  been  succeeded  by  early 
autumn.  The  crops,  planted  when  he  started  from 
home  that  spring  day,  were  now  ripening  in  the 
fields,  and  Northern  statesmen  were  still  declaring 
that  Toombs  was  the  arch-traitor,  and  must  be  ap 
prehended.  Davis  was  in  irons,  and  Stephens  lan 
guished  in  a  dungeon  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

Passing  once  more  near  Sparta,  Ga.,  Toombs 
met,  by  appointment,  his  friends,  Linton  Stephens, 
R  M.  Johnson,  W.  W.  Simpson,  Jack  Lane,  Edge 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  299 

Bird,  and  other  kindred  spirits.  It  was  a  royal  re 
union,  a  sort  of  Lucretia  Borgia  feast  for  Toombs 
— "  eat  and  drink  to-day,  for  to-morrow  we  may 

die." 

Traveling  their  old  road  through  Washington 
County,  they  crossed  the  Ocmulgee,  this  time  in 
safety,  and  passed  into  Houston  County.  The 
Federals  believed  Tombs  already  abroad  and  had 
ceased  to  look  for  him  in  Georgia.  After  the  pass 
age  was  made  General  Toombs  said:  "Charlie, 
that  ferryman  eyed  me  very  closely.  Go  back  and 
give  him  some  money." 

Lieutenant  Irvin  did  return.  The  ferryman 
refused  any  gift.  He  said :  "  I  did  not  want  to 
take  what  you  did  give  me."  Irvin  asked  the 
reason.  The  ferryman  said:  "Tell  General 
Toombs  I  wish  to  God  I  could  do  something 
for  him." 

General  Toombs  had  a  wide  personal  acquaint 
ance  in  Georgia.  He  seldom  stopped  at  a  house 
whose  inmates  he  did  not  know,  and  whose  rela 
tives  and  connections  he  could  not  trace  for  genera 
tions.  Sometimes,  when  incognito,  the  two  men 
were  asked  where  General  Toombs  was.  They 
answered,  "  Cuba." 

At  Oglethorpe,  in  Macon  County,  General 
Toombs  rode  right  through  a  garrison  of  Fed 
eral  soldiers.  As  one  of  his  regiments  came  from 
this  section,  General  Toombs  was  afraid  that  some 


300  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

of  his  old  soldiers  might  recognize  him  on  the 
road.  A  Federal  officer  advanced  to  the  middle 
of  the  street  and  saluted  the  travelers.  Their 
hearts  bounded  to  their  throats,  and,  instinctively, 
two  hands  stole  to  their  revolvers.  Pistols  and 
spurs  were  the  only  resources.  Chances  were  des 
perate,  but  they  were  resolved  to  take  them.  The 
officer  watched  them  intently  as  they  rode  leisurely 
through  the  town,  but  he  was  really  more  inter 
ested  in  their  fine  horses,  "  Gray  Alice "  and 
"  Young  Alice,"  than  in  the  men.  Jogging  un 
concernedly  along  until  the  town  was  hidden  by 
a  hill,  General  Toombs  urged  his  horse  into  a  run, 
and  left  "  his  friends,  the  enemy,"  far  in  the  rear. 
It  was  a  close  call,  but  he  did  not  breathe  freely 
yet.  There  was  possibility  of  pursuit,  and  when 
the  party  reached  the  residence  of  a  Mr.  Brown,  a 
messenger  was  sent  back  to  the  town  to  mislead 
the  soldiers  should  pursuit  be  attempted.  From 
the  hands  of  the  enemy,  General  Toombs  and  his 
friend  were  now  inducted  into  pleasanter  sc enes. 
The  house  was  decorated  with  lilies  and  orange 
blossoms.  A  wedding  was  on  hand,  and  the  bride 
happened  to  be  the  daughter  of  the  host.  Brown 
was  a  brave  and  determined  man.  He  assured 
General  Toombs  that  when  the  wedding  guests 
assembled,  there  would  be  men  enough  on  hand, 
should  an  attack  be  made,  to  rout  the  United 
States  garrison,  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons.  At 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  301 

Dr.  Kaines'  place,  on  the  Chattahoochee  Kiver,  a 
horse  drover  happened  to  say  something  about 
Toombs.  He  gave  the  statesman  a  round  of 
abuse  and  added:  "  And  yet,  they  tell  me  that 
if  I  were  to  meet  General  Toombs  and  say  what  I 
think  of  him,  I  would  either  have  a  fight  or  he 
would  convince  me  that  he  was  the  biggest  man 
in  the  world." 

Tired  of  the  long  horseback  ride,  having  been 
nearly  six  months  in   the  saddle,  the  men  now 
secured  an  ambulance   from   Toombs'  plantation 
in  Stewart  County,  and    crossed   the    river   into 
Alabama.     His  faithful  mare,  which  he  was  forced 
to  leave  behind,  neighed  pathetically  as  her  mas- 
ter  rode  away  in  a  boat  and  pulled  for  the  Ala 
bama  shore.     At  Evergreen  they  took  the  train, 
and   it   seemed   that  half   the   men  on   the   cars 
recognized    General    Toombs.      General    Joseph 
Wheeler,  who  was  on  board,  did  not  take  his  eyes 
oft'  him.      Toombs  became   nervous  under  these 
searching  glances,  and   managed  to  hide  his  face 
behind  a  paper  which  he  was  reading.     At  Tensas 
Station  he  took  the  boat  for  Mobile.     There  was 
a  force  of  Federal  soldiers  on  board,  and  this  was 
the  closest  quarters  of  his  long  journey.     There 
was  now  no  chance  of  escape,  if  detected.     The 
soldiers  frequently  spoke  to  General  Toombs,  but 
he  was  not  in  the  slightest  way  molested. 

At  Mobile   General   Toombs   took  his  saddle- 


302  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

bags  and  repaired  to  the  home  of  his  friend  Mr. 
Evans,  about  four  miles  from  the  city.  There 
he  was  placed  in  the  care  of  Howard  Evans  and 
his  sister,  Miss  Augusta  J.  Evans,  the  gifted  South 
ern  authoress.  Anxious  to  conceal  the  identity 
of  their  guest,  these  hospitable  young  people 
dismissed  their  servants,  and  Miss  Evans  her 
self  cooked  and  served  General  Toombs'  meals 
with  her  own  hands.  She  declared,  with  true 
hospitality,  that  she  felt  it  a  privilege  to  contrib 
ute  to  the  comfort  and  insure  the  safety  of  the 
brilliant  statesman.  She  was  a  Georgian  herself, 
and  with  her  this  was  a  labor  of  love. 

These  w^ere  among  the  most  agreeable  moments 
of  General  Toombs'  long  exile.  He  loved  the 
companionship  of  intellectual  women,  and  the  con 
versation  during  these  days  was  full  of  brilliant 
interest.  Miss  Evans  was  a  charming  talker,  as 
bright  as  a  jewel,  and  Toombs  was  a  Chesterfield 
with  ladies.  The  general  would  walk  to  and  fro 
along  the  shaded  walks  and  pour  forth,  in  his 
matchless  way,  the  secret  history  of  the  ruin  of 
Confederate  hopes. 

General  Toombs  wrote  home,  in  courtly  enthu 
siasm,  of  his  visit  to  Mobile.  Mr.  Stephens  sent 
Miss  Evans  a  warm  letter  of  thanks  for  her  atten 
tions  to  his  friend.  "I  have,"  said  he,  "just  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  General  Toombs,  who  has 
been  so  united  with  me  in  friendship  and  destiny 


TOO  MBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  303 

all  our  lives,  giving  such  account  of  the  kind  at 
tentions  he  received  from  you  and  your  father 
while  in  Mobile,  that  I  cannot  forbear  to  thank 
you  and  him  for  it  in  the  same  strain  and  terms 
as  if  these  attentions  had  been  rendered  to  myself. 
What  you  did  for  my  friend,  in  this  particular, 
you  did  for  me." 

While  General  Toombs  was  in  Mobile,  General 
Wheeler  called  upon  the  Evans  family  and  re 
marked  that  he  thought  he  had  seen  General 
Toombs  on  the  train.  Miss  Evans  replied  that 
she  had  heard  General  Toombs  was  in  Cuba. 

Lieutenant  Irvin  went  to  New  Orleans  and 
secured  from  the  Spanish  Consul  a  pass  to  Cuba 
for  "  Major  Luther  Martin."  At  Mobile  General 
Toombs  took  the  boat  Creole  for  New  Orleans. 
He  seemed  to  be  nearing  the  end  of  his  long  journey, 
but  it  was  on  this  boat  that  the  dramatic  incident 
occurred  which  threatened  to  change  the  course  of 
his  wanderings  at  last.  While  General  Toombs 
was  at  supper,  he  became  conscious  that  one  of  the 
passengers  was  eying  him  closely.  He  said  to 
Lieutenant  Irvin :  "  Charlie,  don't  look  up  now, 
but  there  is  a  man  in  the  doorway  who  evidently 


recognizes  me." 


"  General,  probably  it  is  someone  who  thinks  he 
knows  you." 

"  No,"  replied  Toombs  quietly,  "  that  man  is  a 
spy.:? 


304  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Lieutenant  Irvin  asked  what  should  be  done. 
General  Toombs  told  him  to  go  out  and  question 
the  man  and,  if  convinced  that  he  was  a  spy,  to 
throw  him  over  the  stern-rail  of  the  steamer. 
Lieutenant  Irvin  got  up  and  went  on  deck.  The 
stranger  followed  him.  Irvin  walked  toward  the 
rail.  The  stranger  asked  him  where  he  was  from. 
He  answered  "  JSTorth  Carolina." 

"  Who  is  that  with  you  ? "  he  questioned. 

"  My  uncle,  Major  Martin,"  said  Irvin. 

The  man  then  remarked  that  it  looked  very 
much  like  Robert  Toombs.  Irvin  answered  that 
the  likeness  had  been  noted  before,  but  that  he 
could  not  see  it. 

"  Young  man,"  said  the  stranger,  "  I  don't  want 
to  dispute  your  word,  but  that  is  certainly  Toombs. 
I  know  him  well,  and  am  his  friend." 

Irvin  then  gave  up  the  idea  of  throwing  him 
overboard.  Had  the  brave  young  officer  not 
been  convinced  that  the  party  questioning  him 
was  Colonel  M.  C.  Fulton,  a  prominent  resident  of 
Georgia,  he  says  he  would  certainly  have  pitched 
him  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

General  Toombs,  when  informed  of  the  identity 
of  Colonel  Fulton,  sent  for  him  to  come  to  his 
room,  and  the  two  men  had  a  long  and  friendly 
conversation. 

Arriving  at  New  Orleans  General  Toombs  drove 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  305 

up  to  the  residence  of  Colonel  Marshal  J.  Smith. 
On  the  4th  of  November,  1865,  he  boarded  the 
steamship  Alabama,  the  first  of  the  Morgan  line 
put  on  after  the  war  between  New  Orleans, 
Havana,  and  Liverpool.  A  tremendous  crowd 
had  gathered  at  the  dock  to  see  the  steamer  off, 
and  Lieutenant  Irvin  tried  to  persuade  General 
Toombs  to  go  below  until  the  ship  cleared.  But 
the  buoyant  Georgian  persisted  in  walking  the 
deck,  and  was  actually  recognized  by  General 
Humphrey  Marshall  of  Texas,  who  had  known 
him  in'  the  Senate  before  the  war. 

"  No,"  said  Toombs  to  his  companion's  expostu 
lations,  "  I  want  fresh  air,  and  I  will  die  right  here. 
I  am  impatient  to  get  into  neutral  waters,  when  I 
can  talk.  I  have  not  had  a  square,  honest  talk  in 
six  months." 

By  the  time  the  good  ship  had  cleared  the 
harbor,  everybody  on  board  knew  that  Robert 
Toombs, "  the  fire-eater  and  rebel,"  was  a  passenger, 
and  hundreds  gathered  around  to  listen  to  his 
matchless  conversation. 

Lieutenant  Irvin  never  saw  General  Toombs 
again  until  1868.  He  himself  was  an  officer  of 
the  Irvin  artillery,  Cutts'  battalion,  being  a  part 
of  Walker's  artillery  in  Longstreet's  corps.  Enter 
ing  the  army  at  seventeen  years  of  age,  Charles  E. 
Irvin  was  a  veteran  at  twenty-one.  He  was  brave, 


306  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

alert,  tender,  and  true.  He  recalls  that  when  his 
company  joined  the  army  in  Richmond,  Robert 
Toombs,  then  Secretary  of  State,  gave  them  a 
handsome  supper  at  the  Exchange  Hotel.  "  I 
remember/7  said  he,  "  with  infinite  satisfaction, 
that  during  the  seven  months  I  accompanied 
General  Toombs,  in  the  closest  relations  and 
under  the  most  trying  positions,  he  was  never 
once  impatient  with  me.'7  Frequently,  on  this 
long  and  perilous  journey,  Toombs  would  say ; 
"  Well,  my  boy !  suppose  the  Yankees  find  us 
to-day ;  what  will  you  do  ?  '7  "  General,  you  say 
you  won't  be  taken  alive.  I  reckon  they  will 
have  to  kill  me  too.'7 

General  Toombs  often  declared  that  he  would 
not  be  captured.  Imprisonment,  trial,  and  exile, 
he  did  not  dread ;  but  to  be  carried  about,  a  prize 
captive  and  a  curiosity  through  Northern  cities, 
was  his  constant  fear.  He  was  prepared  to  sell 
his  life  dearly,  and  there  is  DO  doubt  but  that  he 
would  have  done  so. 

During  all  these  trying  days,  Toombs  rode  with 
the  grace  and  gayety  of  a  cavalier.  He  talked 
incessantly  to  his  young  companion,  who  eagerly 
drank  in  his  words.  He  fought  his  battles  over 
again  and  discussed  the  leaders  of  the  Civil  War  in 
his  racy  style.  He  constantly  predicted  the  col 
lapse  of  the  greenback  system  of  currency,  and 


TOOMBS  AS  A  FUGITIVE.  307 

speculated  facetiously  each  day  upon  the  chances 
of  capture.  He  calculated  shrewdly  enough  his 
routes  and  plans,  and  when  he  found  himself  on 
terra  firma,  it  was  under  the  soft  skies  of  the 
Antilles  with  a  foreign  flag  above  him. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

WITHOUT    A    COUNTRY. 

FROM  Cuba  General  Toombs  proceeded  to  Paris. 
It  was  early  in  July  before  lie  reached  his  new 
stopping  place.  He  found  himself  somewhat 
restricted  in  funds,  as  he  had  not  had  time  to 
turn  his  property  into  gold  to  make  his  trip 
abroad.  It  is  related  that  just  after  the  departure 
of  the  famous  "  specie  train,"  through  Washington 
in  the  wake  of  Mr.  Davis'  party,  a  Confederate 
horseman  dashed  by  the  residence  of  General 
Toombs  and  threw  a  bag  of  bullion  over  the  fence. 
It  was  found  to  contain  five  thousand  dollars,  but 
Toombs  swore  he  would  not  even  borrow  this 
amount  from  his  government.  He  turned  it  over 
to  the  authorities  for  the  use  of  disabled  Con 
federate  soldiers,  and  hurriedly  scraped  up  what 
funds  he  could  command  in  case  he  should  be 
compelled  to  fly.  Arriving  in  Paris,  General 
Toombs  succeeded  in  selling  one  of  his  planta 
tions,  realizing  about  five  dollars  an  acre  for  it. 
He  used  to  explain  to  the  astounded  Frenchmen, 
during  his  residence  abroad,  that  he  ate  an  acre  of 
dirt  a  day. 

m 


WITHOUT  A   COUNTRY.  309 

General  Toonibs  repaired  to  Enghien,  where  he 
took  a  course  of  sulphur  baths  for  the  benefit  of 
his  throat.  Constant  exposure  with  the  army  and 
in  his  flight  had  brought  on  his  old  enemy,  the 
asthma.  He  had  been  a  healthy  man,  having  long 
passed  the  limit  of  manhood  before  he  tasted 
medicine.  Late  in  life,  an  attack  of  scarlet  fever 
left  his  throat  in  a  delicate  condition. 

Mrs.  Toombs  joined  him  in  Paris  in  July,  1865, 
and  he  passed  eighteen  months  quietly  with  her  in 
Europe.  It  was  in  marked  contrast  to  his  tour  in 
1855,  when,  as  United  States  Senator,  he  had  gone 
from  place  to  place,  observed,  honored,  and  courted. 
He  was  now  an  exile  without  a  country.  He  had 
seen  his  political  dreams  wiped  out  in  blood  and 
his  home  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  From  the 
dignity  and  power  of  a  United  States  Senator 
and  a  possible  aspirant  to  the  Presidency,  he 
had  been  branded  as  a  conspirator,  and  forced, 
like  Mirabeau,  to  seek  shelter  in  distant 
lands. 

France  was,  at  that  time,  in  a  state  of  unrest. 
Louis  Napoleon  was  watching  with  anxiety  the 
eagles  of  Prussia  hovering  over  the  German  Con 
federation.  Austria  had  already  succumbed  to 
Prussian  power,  and  Napoleon  had  been  blocked 
in  his  scheme  to  secure,  from  this  disorder,  his 
share  of  the  Rhenish  provinces.  Toornbs,  who  had 
fled  from  a  restored  Union  in  America,  now 


310  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

watched  tlie  march  of  consolidation  in  Europe,  and 
predicted  its  final  success. 

General  Toombs  was  an  object  of  interest  in 
Europe.  His  position  toward  the  American  gov 
ernment  prevented  his  public  recognition  by  the 
rulers,  but  he  used  to  relate  with  zest  his  interviews 
with  Carlyle,  the  Empress  Eugenie,  and  other  not 
ables.  He  was  a  man  to  attract  attention,  and  his 
talk  was  fascinating  and  bright. 

He  was  sometimes  sought  in  a  legal  way  by 
prominent  financiers,  who  asked  his  opinions  upon 
fiscal  matters  in  America.  There  is  no  doubt  but 
that,  like  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  he  could  have  built 
up  a  large  practice  abroad,  had  he  cared  to  do  so  ; 
but  permanent  residence  away  from  home  was  en 
tirely  out  of  his  mind. 

In  December,  1866,  General  and  Mrs.  Toombs 
received  a  cable  message  telling  them  of  the  death 
of  their  only  daughter,  Mrs.  Dudley  M.  DuBose, 
in  Washington,  Ga.  Mrs.  Toombs  at  once  returned 
home,  leaving  the  grief-stricken  father  alone  in 
Paris.  Anxious  to  go  back  with  her,  he  was  ad 
vised  that  matters  were  still  unsettled  in  the 
United  States.  The  impeachment  of  Andrew  John 
son  was  in  progress,  and  his  conviction  meant  re 
stored  martial  law  for  the  South.  So  the  days 
were  fall  of  woe  for  the  lonely  exile. 

On  December  25,  1866,  he  writes  a  beautiful 
and  pathetic  letter  to  his  wife.  While  the  deni- 


WITHOUT  A   COUNTRY.  311 

zens  of  the  gay  city  were  deep  in  the  celebration 
of  the  joyous  Christmas  feast,  the  Southern  wan 
derer,  "with  heart  bowed  down,"  was  passing 
through  the  shadows,  and  suffering  in  silence  the 
keenest  pangs  of  affliction.  Around  him  the  vo 
taries  of  fashion  and  wealth  were  flushed  with 
gayety.  Paris  was  in  the  ecstasy  of  Christmas- 
tide.  But  the  depths  of  his  soul  were  starless 
and  chill,  and  in  the  midst  of  all  this  mirth  one 
heart  was  tuned  to  melancholy.  He  writes  to 
his  wife  : 

The  night  you  left  I  retired  to  the  room  and  did  not  go 
to  sleep  until  after  two  o'clock.  I  felt  so  sad  at  parting 
with  you  and  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  long  dreary 
trip  you  had  that  night,  I  shall  have  a  long  journey  of 
five  thousand  miles  to  Havana,  and  do  not  know  that  1 
shall  meet  a  human  being  to  whom  I  am  known,  but  if  I 
keep  well  I  shall  not  mind  that,  especially  as  I  am  home 
ward  bound  ;  for  my  hearthstone  is  desolate,  and  clouds 
and  darkness  hover  over  the  little  remnant  that  is  left  of 
us,  and  of  all  our  poor  friends  and  countrymen  ;  and,  when 
you  get  home,  Washington  will  contain  nearly  all  that  is 
dear  to  me  in  tins  world.  I  remained  alone  yesterday  after 
I  got  up  and  went  to  my  solitary  meal.  I  immediately 
came  back  to  my  room,  and  have  seen  nothing  of  Christmas 
in  Paris. 

On  January  1,  1867,  he  writes  : 

This  is  the  first  of  the  new  year.  How  sad  it  opens  upon 
me  !  In  a  foreign  land,  with  all  that  is  dear  to  me  on  earth 
beyond  the  ocean,  either  on  the  way  to  a  distant  home  or 
at  its  desolate  fireside.  Well,  I  shall  not  nurse  such  gloomy 


312  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

ideas.  Let  us  hope  that  the  new  year  may  be  happier  and 
that  we  may  grow  better.  God  knows  I  cannot  regret  that 
1866  is  gone.  I  hope  its  calamities  will  not  enter  with  us 
into  1867.  I  had  hoped  to  hear  from  New  York  of  your 
safe  arrival  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean. 

The  loss  of  his  daughter  Sallie  was  a  severe 
blow  to  General  Toombs.  But  two  of  his  chil 
dren  lived  to  be  grown.  His  eldest  daughter 
Louise  died  in  1855,  shortly  after  her  marriage  to 
Mr.  W.  F.  Alexander.  General  Toombs  had  a 
son  who  died  in  early  childhood  of  scarlet  fever. 
This  was  a  great  blow  to  him,  for  he  always 
longed  for  a  son  to  bear  his  name.  Away  off  in 
Paris  his  heart  yearned  for  his  four  little  grand 
children,  left  motherless  by  this  new  affliction. 
He  writes  again  from  Paris : 

I  almost  determined  to  take  the  steamer  Saturday  and 
run  the  gauntlet  to  New  York.  I  would  have  done  so  but 
for  my  promise  to  you.  I  know  everything  looks  worse 
and  worse  on  our  side  of  the.ocean,  but  when  will  it  be  any 
better?  Is  this  state  of  things  to  last  forever  ?  To  me  it 
is  becoming  intolerable Kiss  the -dear  little  chil 
dren  for  me.  Bless  their  hearts  !  How  I  long  to  see  them 
and  take  them  to  my  arms.  God  bless  you  !  Pray  for  me 
that  I  may  be  a  better  man  in  the  new  year  than  in  all  the  ' 
old  ones  before  in  my  time. 

Early  in  January  General  Toombs  decided  to 
sail  for  Cuba  and  thence  to  New  Orleans.  If  he 
found  it  unsafe  to  remain  in  the  South  he  con 
cluded  he  could  either  go  back  to  Cuba  or  extend 


WITHOUT  A   COUNTRY.  313 

his  travels  into  Canada,  He  had  promised  his 
wife  he  would  remain  abroad  for  the  present. 
But  he  writes : 

The  worst  that  can  happen  to  me  is  a  prison,  and  I  don't 
see  much  to  choose  between  my  present  condition  and  any 
decent  fort.  I  feel  so  anxious  about  you  and  the  children 
that  it  makes  me  very  wretched. 

From  Paris,  January  16,  1867,  he  writes : 

My  preparations  are  all  complete,  and  I  leave  to-morrow 
on  the  New  World  for  Havana  and  New  Orleans,  via  Mar 
tinique.  I  am  well ;  except  my  throat.  I  shall  have  a  long 
and  lonesome  voyage,  with  not  much  else  to  cheer  me  but 
that  I  shall  find  you  and  our  dear  little  ones  at  the  end  of 
my  journey.  If  I  am  permitted  to  find  you  all  well,  I  shall 
be  compensated  for  its  fatigues  and  dangers.  God  grant 
that  we  may  all  meet  once  more  in  this  world  in  health  ! 
Yours  truly  and  affectionately,  as  ever, 

TOOMBS. 

General  Toombs  returned  to  America  and  after 
a  short  residence  in  Canada  went  to  Washington, 
where  he  had  a  long  interview  with  his  old  sena 
torial  colleague,  President  Andrew  Johnson.  He 
went  home  from  Washington  and  was  never^  again 
molested.  He  made  no  petition  for  relief  of 
political  disabilities.  He  was  never  restored  to 
citizenship.  When  Honorable  Samuel  J.  Randall 
proposed  his  General  Amnesty  Act  in  1875,  Mr. 
Elaine  and  other  Republicans  desired  to  exclude 
from  its  provisions  the  names  of  Davis  and  Toombs. 
The  Democrats  would  not  accept  this  amendment, 


314  ROBERT  TOOMM. 

and  the  bill  was  never  passed.  Once,  when  Sena 
tor  Oliver  P.  Morton  asked  General  Toombs  why 
he  did  not  petition  Congress  for  pardon,  Tooinbs 
quietly  answered,  "  Pardon  for  what  ?  I  have  not 
pardoned  you  all  yet." 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

COMMENCING    LIFE    ANEW. 

WHEN  General  Tooinbs  finally  returned  to 
Georgia  it  was  with  a  great  part  of  his  fortune  gone, 
his  political  career  cut  oft*  by  hopeless  disability, 
and  his  household  desolate.  These  were  serious 
calamities  for  a  man  fifty-seven  years  of  age.  He 
found  himself  forced  under  new  and  unfavorable 
conditions  to  build  all  over  again,  but  he  set  about 
it  in  a  vigorous  and  heroic  way.  His  health  was 
good.  He  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  man 
hood.  His  once  raven  locks  were  gray,  and  his 
beard,  which  grew  out  from  his  throat,  gave  him 
a  grizzly  appearance.  His  dark  eye  was  full  of 
fire  and  his  mind  responded  with  vigor  to  its  new 

work. 

When  General  Tooinbs  arrived  at  Washington, 
Ga.,  he  consulted  some  of  his  friends  over  the 
advisability  of  returning  to  the  practice  of  law, 
which  he  had  left  twenty-five  years  before.  Their 
advice  was  against  it.  Things  were  in  chaos;  the 
people  were  impoverished,  and  the  custodians  of 
the  courts  were  the  creatures  of  a  hostile  govern 
ment.  But  Robert  Toombs  was  made  of  different 


316  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

stuff.  Associating  himself  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  with  General  Dudley  M.  DuBose,  who 
had  been  his  chief  of  staff,  and  was  his  son-in-law, 
an  able  and  popular  man  in  the  full  vigor  of  man 
hood,  General  Toombs  returned  actively  to  the 
practice  of  law.  He  was  not  long  in  turning  to 
practical  account  his  great  abilities.  Success  soon 
claimed  him  as  an  old  favorite.  Business  accumu 
lated  and  the  ex-senator  and  soldier  found  himself 
once  more  at  the  head  of  the  bar  of  Georgia. 
Large  fees  were  readily  commanded.  He  was 
employed  in  important  cases  in  every  part  of 
Georgia,  and  the  announcement  that  Robert 
Toombs  was  to  appear  before  judge  and  jury  was 
enough  to  draw  large  crowds  from  city  and  country. 
His  old  habits  of  indomitable  industry  returned. 
He  rode  the  circuits  like  a  young  barrister  again. 
He  was  a  close  collector  of  claims,  an  admirable 
administrator,  a  safe  counselor,  and  a  bold  and 
fearless  advocate.  In  a  short  time  General 
Toombs'  family  found  themselves  once  more  in 
comfort,  and  he  was  the  same  power  with  the 
people  that  he  had  always  been. 

Cut  off  from  all  hope  of  official  promotion, 
scorning  to  sue  for  political  pardon,  he  strove  to 
wield  in  the  courts  some  of  the  power  he  forfeited 
in  politics.  He  figured  largely  in  cases  of  a  public 
nature,  and  became  an  outspoken  tribune  of  the 
people.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  face  the  Supreme 


COMMENCING  LIFE  ANEW.  317 

Court  of  Georgia,  then  made  up  of  Republican 
judges,  and  attack  the  laws  of  a  Republican  legis 
lature.     Among  the  bills  passed  at  that  time  to 
popularize  the  legislature  with  the  people,  was  a 
series  of  liberal  homestead  and  exemption  laws. 
They  were  the  relief  measures  of  1868.     By  these 
schemes,  at  once  rigorous  and  sweeping,  millions  of 
dollars  were  lost  in  Georgia.     They  were  intended 
to  wipe  out  old  debts,  especially  contracts  made 
during  the  war,  and  Governor  Bullock  had  ap 
pointed  a  Supreme  Court  which  sustained  them. 
These  laws  were  abhorrent  to  Toombs.     He  thun 
dered  against  them  with  all  the   powers  of  his 
learning  and  eloquence.      When  he  arose  in  court, 
there    stood   with    him,   he   believed,    not    only 
the    cause    of    his   client,    but    the    honor     of 
the   whole     State    of    Georgia.      It    was    much 
easier    to   seduce    a    poverty-stricken   people  by 
offering   them   measures   of   relief   than  to  drive 
them    by  the    bayonet    or   to   subject    them   to 
African   domination.      In  the  case  of  Hardernan 
against  Downer,  in  June,  1868,  he  declared  before 
the  Supreme  Court  that  these  homestead  laws  put 
a  premium  on  dishonesty  and   robbed  the  poor 
man  of  his  capital.     "  But  we  must  consider  the 
intention  of  the  Act,"  said  the  Court.     "  Was  it  not 
the  intention  of  the  legislature  to  prevent  the  col 
lection   of   just   such   claims   as   these   you   now 
bring  ? "     "  Yes,  may  it   please    the  Court,"  said 


318  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Toombs,  shaking  his  leonine  locks,  "there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  legisla 
ture  to  defraud  the  creditor;  but  they  have  failed 
to  put  their  intention  in  a  form  that  would  stand, 
so  it  becomes  necessary  for  this  Court  to  add  its 
own  ingenuity  to  this  villainy.  It  seems  that  this 
Court  is  making  laws  rather  than  decisions." 

In  one  of  his  dissenting  opinions  upon  these 
laws,  Justice  Hiram  Warner  declared  that  he 
would  not  allow  his  name  to  go  down  to  posterity 
steeped  in  the  infamy  of  such  a  decision.  General 
Toombs  lost  his  case,  but  the  decision  was  sub 
sequently  overruled  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

The  times  were  full  of  evil.  The  legislature 
was  dominated  by  adventurers  and  ignorant  men, 
and  public  credit  was  freely  voted  away  to  new 
enterprises.  The  State  was  undeveloped',  and  this 
wholesale  system  of  public  improvement  became 
popular.  Unworthy  men  were  scrambling  for 
public  station,  and  the  times  were  out  of  tune. 
In  the  midst  of  this  demoralization  Toombs  was 
a  pillar  of  fire.  He  was  tireless  in  his  withering 
satire,  his  stinging  imvective,  his  uncompromising 
war  upon  the  rnisgovernnient  of  the  day. 

Here  was  a  fine  field  and  a  rare  occasion  for  his 
pungent  criticism  and  denunciation.  His  utter 
ances  wereniot  those  of  apolitical  leader.  He  was 
not  trimming  his  sails  for  office.  He  did  not  shape 


COMMENCING  LIFE  ANEW.  319 

his  conduct  so  as  to  be  considered  an  available 
man  by  the  North.  He  fought  error  wherever  he 
saw  it.  He  made  no  terms  with  those  whom  he 
considered  public  enemies.  He  denounced  radical 
ism  as  a  "  leagued  scoundrelism  of  private  gain  and 
public  plunder." 

In  opposing  the  issue  of  State  bonds  to  aid  a 
certain  railroad,  he  declared  that  if  the  legislature 
saddled  this  debt  upon  the  taxpayers,  their  act 
would  be  a  nullity.  "  We  will  adopt  a  new  con 
stitution  with  a  clause  repudiating  these  bonds, 
and  like  JStna  spew  the  monstrous  frauds  out  of 
the  market ! " 

"  You  may,"  he  said, "  by  your  deep-laid  schemes, 
lull  the  thoughtless,  enlist  the  selfish,  and  stifle  for 
a  while  the  voices  of  patriots,  but  the  clay  of 
reckoning  will  come.  These  cormorant  corpora 
tions,  these  so-called  patriotic  developers,  whom 
you  seek  to  exempt,  shall  pay  their  dues,  if  justice 
lives.  By  the  Living  God,  they  shall  pay  them." 

"  Georgia  shall  pay  her  debts,"  said  Toombs  on 
one  occasion.  "  If  she  does  not,  I  will  pay  them 
for  her ! "  This  piece  of  hyperbole  was  softened 
by  the  fact  that  on  two  occasions,  when  the  State 
needed  money  to  supply  deficits,  Toornbs  with 
other  Georgians  did  come  forward  and  lift  the 
pressure.  Sometimes  he  talked  in  a  random  way, 
but  responsibility  always  sobered  him.  He  was 
impatient  of  fraud  and  stupidity,  often  full  of  ex- 


320  110BERT  TOOMBS. 

aggerations,  but  scrupulous  when  the  truth  was 
relevant.  Always  strict  and  honorable  in  his  en 
gagements,  he  boasted  that  he  never  had  a  dirty 
shilling  in  his  pocket. 

The  men  who  "left  the  country  for  the  country's 
good  "  and  came  South  to  fatten  on  the  spoils  of 
reconstruction,  furnished  unending  targets  for  his 
satire.  He  declared  that  these  so-called  developers 
came  for  pelf,  not  patriotism.  "  Why,  these  men," 
he  said,  "  are  like  thieving  elephants.  They  will 
uproot  an  oak  or  pick  up  a  pin.  They  would 
steal  anything  from  a  button  to  an  empire."  On 
one  occasion  he  was  bewailing  the  degeneracy  of 
the  times,  and  he  exclaimed:  "  I. am  sorry  I  have 
got  so  much  sense.  I  see  into  the  tricks  of  these 
public  men  too  quickly.  When  God  Almighty 
moves  me  from  the  earth,  he  will  take  away  a  heap 
of  experience.  I  expect  when  a  man  gets  to  be 
seventy  he  ought  to  go,  for  he  knows  too  much  for 
other  people's  convenience." 

"  I  hope  the  Lord  will  allow  me  to  go  to  heaven 
as  a  gentleman,"  he  used  to  say.  «  Some  of  these 
Georgia  politicians  I  do  not  want  to  associate 
with.  I  would  like  to  associate  with  Socrates  and 
Shakespeare." 

During  his  arguments  before  the  Supreme 
Court,  General  Toonibs  used  to  abuse  the  Gover 
nor  and  the  Bullock  Legislature  very  roundly. 
The  Court  adopted  a  rule  that  no  lawyer  should 


COMMENCING  LIFE  ANEW.  321 

be  allowed,  while  conducting  his  case,  to  abuse  a 
coordinate  branch  of  the  government.  General 
Toombs  was  informed  that  if  he  persisted  in  this 
practice  he  would  be  held  for  contempt.  The 
next  time  Toombs  went  before  the  Court  he 
alluded  to  ^the  fugitive  Governor  in  very  sharp 
terms.  "  May  it  please  your  Honors,  the  Governor 
has  now  absconded.  Your  Honors  have  put  in  a 
little  rule  to  catch  me.  In  seeking  to  protect  the 
powers  that  be,  I  presume  you  did  not  intend  to 
defend  the  powers  that  were." 

The  papers  printed  an  account  of  an  interview 
between  General  Gordon  and  Mr.  Tilden  in  1880, 
Gordon  told  Tilden  that  he  was  sorry  he  could 
not  impart  to  Tilden  some  of  his  own  strength  and 
vitality.  "  So  my  brother  told  me  last  year," 
answered  Mr.  Tilden.  "  I  have  since  followed  him 
to  the  grave."  Toombs  read  this  and  remarked 
that  Tilden  did  not  think  he  was  going  to  die. 
"  No  one  expects  to  die  but  I.  I  have  got  sense 
enough  to  know  that  I  am  bound  to  die." 

On  one  occasion  Toombs  was  criticising  an  ap 
pointment  made  by  an  unpopular  official.  "  But, 
General,"  someone  said,  "  you  must  confess  that  it 
was  a  good  appointment."  "That  may  be,  but 
that  was  not  the  reason  it  was  made.  Bacon  was 
not  accused  of  selling  injustice.  He  was  eternally 
damned  for  selling  justice." 

General  Toombs  was  once  asked  in  a  crowd  in 


322  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

the  Kimball  House  in  Atlanta  what  he  thought 
of  the  North.  "  My  opinion  of  the  Yankees  is 
apostolic.  Alexander  the  coppersmith  did  me 
much  evil.  The  Lord  reward  him  according  to 
his  works."  A  Federal  officer  was  standing 
in  the  crowd.  He  said :  "  Well,  General,  we 
whipped  you,  anyhow."  "  No,"  replied  Toombs, 
"  we  just  wore  ourselves  out  whipping  you." 

He  spoke  of  the  spoliators  in  the  State  Legis 
lature  as  "  an  assembly  of  manikins  whose  object 
is  never  higher  than  their  breeches  pockets; 
seekers  of  jobs  and  judgeships,  anything  for  pap 
or  plunder,  an  amalgamation  of  white  rogues  and 
blind  negroes,  gouging  the  treasury  and  disgrac 
ing  Georgia." 

He  was  a  violent  foe  of  exemptions,  of  bounties, 
and  of  all  sorts  of  corruption  and  fraud.  He  was 
overbearing  at  times,  but  not  more  conscious  of 
power  than  of  honesty  in  its  use.  He  was  gener 
ous  to  the  weak.  It  was  in  defense  of  his  ideas 
of  justice  that  he  overbore  opposition. 

General  Toombs  kept  the  issues  before  the  peo 
ple.  He  had  no  patience  with  the  tentative  policy. 
He  forfeited  much  of  his  influence  at  this  time  by 
his  indiscriminate  abuse  of  Northern  men  and 
Southern  opponents,  and  his  defiance  of  all  the 
conditions  of  a  restored  Union.  He  could  have 
served  his  people  best  by  more  conservative  con 
duct,  but  he  had  all  the  roughness  and  acerbity  of 


COMMENCING  LIFE  ANEW.  323 

a  reformer,  dead  in  earnest.     It  was  owing;  to  his 

/  o 

constant  arraignment  of  illegal  acts  of  the  post- 
bellum  regime  that  the  people  finally  aroused, 
in  1870,  and  regained  the  State  for  white  suprem 
acy  and  Democratic  government.  He  challenged 
the  authors  of  the  Reconstruction  measures  to  dis-. 
cuss  the  constitutionality  of  the  amendments. 
Charles  J.  Jenkins  had  already  carried  the  cause  of 
Georgia  into  the  courts,  and  Linton  Stephens,  be 
fore  United  States  Commissioner  Swayze  in  Macon, 
had  made  an  exhaustive  argument  upon  the  whole 
subject.  Toombs  forced  these  issues  constantly 
into  his  cases,  and  kept  public  interest  at  white 
heat. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

DAYS    OF    EECONSTKUCTION 

IN  July,  1868,  the  people  of  Georgia  made  'the 
first  determined  stand  against  the  Republican 
party.  John  B.  Gordon  was  nominated  for  Gov 
ernor,  and  Seymour  and  Blair  had  been  named  in 
New  York  as  National  Democratic  standard-bear 
ers.  A  memorable  meeting  was  held  in  Atlanta. 
It  was  the  first  real  rally  of  the  wdiite  people 
under  the  new  order  of  things.  Robert  Toombs, 
Howell  Cobb,  and  Benjamin  H.  Hill  addressed 
the  multitude.  There  was  much  enthusiasm,  and 
crowds  gathered  from  every  part  of  Georgia. 
This  was  the  great  "Bush  Arbor  meeting"  of 
that  year,  and  old  men  and  boys  speak  of  it  to 
day  with  kindling  ardor.  "Few  people,"  said 
Toombs  in  that  speech,  "had  escaped  the  hor 
rors  of  war,  and  fewer  still  the  stern  and  bitter 
curse  of  civil  war.  The  histories  of  the  greatest 
peoples  of  earth  have  been  filled  with  defeats  as 
well  as  victories,  suffering  as  well  as  happiness, 
shame  and  reproach  as  well  as  honor  and  glory. 
The  struggles  of  the  great  and  good  are  the 
noblest  legacies  left  by  the  past  to  the  present 

324 


DAYS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  325 

generation,  trophies  worthy  to  be  laid  at  the  feet 
of  Jehovah  himself.  Those  whose  blades  glittered 
in  the  foremost  ranks  of  the  Northern  army  on 
the  battlefield,  with  a  yet  higher  and  nobler  pur 
pose  denounce  the  base  uses  to  which  the  victory 
has  been  applied.  The  old  shibboleths  of  victory 
are  proclaimed  as  living  principles.  Whatever 
else  may  be- lost,  the  principles  of  Magna  Charta 
have  survived  the  conflict  of  arms.  The  edicts  of 
the  enemy  abolish  all  securities  of  life,  liberty, 
and  property ;  defeat  all  the  rightful  purposes  of 
government,  and  renounce  all  remedies,  all  laws. 

General  Toombs  denounced  the  incompetency 
of  the  dominant  party  in  Georgia — "  In  its  tyranny, 
its  corruption,  its  treachery  to  the  Caucasian 
race,  its  patronage  of  vice,  of  fraud,  of  crime  and 
criminals,  its  crime  against  humanity  and  in  its 
efforts  to  subordinate  the  safeguards  of  public  se 
curity  and  to  uproot  the  foundations  of  free  gov 
ernment  it  has  forfeited  all  claims  upon  a  free 
people." 

Alluding  to  General  Longstreet,  who  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Republican  party,  General 
Toombs  said :  "  I  would  not  have  him  tarnish  his 
own  laurels.  I  respect  his  courage,  honor  his  de 
votion  to  his  cause,  and  regret  his  errors."  He  de 
nounced  the  ruling  party  of  Georgia  as  a  mass  of 
floating  putrescence,  "which  rises  as  it  rots  and 
rots  as  it  rises."  He  declared  that  the  Eeconstruc- 


326  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

tion  Acts  "  stared  out  in  their  naked  deformity,  open 
to  the  indignant  gaze  of  all  honest  men." 

The  campaign  at  that  time  was  made  upon  the 
illegality  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution. 
Enthusiasm  was  fed  by  the  fiery  and  impetuous  in 
vective  of  Tooinbs.  The  utterances  of  most  public 
men  were  guarded  and  conservative.  But  when 
Toombs  spoke  the  people  realized  that  he  uttered 
the  convictions  of  an  unshackled  mind  and  a  fear 
less  spirit.  Leaders  deprecated  his  extreme  views, 
but  the  hustings  rang  with  his  ruthless  candor. 

The  conclusion  of  his  Bush  Arbor  effort  was  a 
fine  sample  of  his  fervid  speech :  "All  these  and 
many  more  wrongs  have  been  heaped  upon  you, 
my  countrymen,  without  your  consent.  Your  con 
sent  alone  can  give  the  least  validity  to  these  usur 
pations.  Let  no  power  on  earth  wring  that  con 
sent  from  you.  Take  no  counsel  of  fear  ;  it  is  the 
meanest  of  masters ;  spurn  the  temptations  of  office 
from  the  polluted  hands  of  your  oppressors.  He 
who  owns  only  his  own  sepulcher  at  the  price  of 
such  claims  holds  a  heritage  of  shame.  Unite  with 
the  National  Democratic  party.  Your  country  says 
come  ;  honor  says  come ;  duty  says  come ;  liberty 
says  come ;  the  country  is  in  danger ;  let  every 
freeman  hasten  to  the  rescue." 

It  was  at  this  meeting  that  Benjamin  H.  Hill, 
who  made  so  much  reputation  by  the  publica 
tion  of  a  series  of  papers  entitled,  "  Notes  on  the 


DAYS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  327 

Situation,"  delivered  one  of  the  roost  memorable 
speeches  of  his  life.  It  was  a  moving,  overmaster 
ing  appeal  to  the  people  to  go  to  the  polls.  When 
this  oration  was  over,  the  audience  was  almost 
wild,  and  Robert  Toombs,  standing  on  the  plat 
form,  in  his  enthusiasm  threw  his  hat  away  into 
the  delighted  throng.  A  young  bright-faced  boy 
picked  it  up  and  carried  it  back  to  the  speakers' 
stand.  It  was  Henry  Grady. 

The  defeat  of  the  National  Democratic  party  in 
1868  disheartened  the  Southern  people,  and  the  old 
disinclination  to  take  part  in  politics  seized  them 
stronger  than  before.  In  1870,  however,  General 
Toombs  delivered,  in  different  parts  of  Georgia,  a 
carefully  prepared  lecture  on  the  Principles  of 
Magna  Charta.  It  was  just  the  reverse  in  style 
and  conception  to  his  fervid  Bush  Arbor  oration. 
It  was  submitted  to  manuscript  and  was  read  from 
notes  at  the  speakers'  stand.  With  the  possible 
exception  of  his  Tremont  Temple  lecture,  delivered 
in  Boston  in  1856,  it  was  the  only  one  of  his  public 
addresses  so  carefully  prepared  and  so  dispassion 
ately  delivered.  In  his  opinion  the  principles  of 
free  government  were  drifting  away  from  old  land 
marks.  The  times  were  out  of  joint,  the  people 
were  demoralized.  The  causes  which  afterward 
led  to  the  great  revolt  in  the  Republican 
ranks  in  1872  were  already  marked  in  the 
quick  perception  of  Toombs,  and  this  admir- 


328  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

able  state  paper  was  framed  to  put  the  issue 
before  the  public  in  a  sober,  statesmanlike  way, 
and  to  draw  the  people  back  to  their  old  moor 
ings.  This  lecture  was  delivered  in  all  the  large 
cities  and  many  of  the  smaller  towns  of  Georgia, 
and  had  a  great  effect.  Already  there  had  been 
concerted  appeal  to  Georgians  to  cease  this  politi 
cal  opposition  and  "  accept  the  situation."  Even 
statesmen  like  Mr.  Hill  had  come  round  to  the 
point  of  advising  the  people  to  abandon  "  dead 
issues."  The  situation  was  more  desperate  than 
ever. 

In  his  Magna  Charta  lecture  Mr.  Toombs  said 
that  Algernon  Sidney  had  summed  up  the  object 
of  all  human  wisdom  as  the  good  government  of 
the  people.  "  From  the  earliest  ages  to  the  pres 
ent  time,"  said  he,  "  there  has  been  a  continued 
contest  between  the  wise  and  the  virtuous  who 
wish  to  secure  good  government  and  the  corrupt 
who  were  unwilling  to  grant  it.  The  highest  duty 
of  every  man,  a  duty  enjoined  by  God,  was  the 
service  of  his  country."  This  was  the  great  value 
of  the  victory  at  Eunnymede,  with  its  rich  fruits 
—that  rights  should  be  respected  and  that  justice 
should  be  done.  "  These  had  never  been  denied 
for  seven  hundred  years,  until  the  present  evil 
days,"  said  Toombs.  Magna  Charta  had  been 
overridden  and  trampled  underfoot  by  brave  ty 
rants  and  evaded  by  cowardly  ones.  There  had 


DATS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  329 

been  ingenious  schemes  to  destroy  it.  The  men  of 
'76  fought  for  Magna  Charta.  These  principles 
had  been  prominent  in  our  Constitution^  until  a 
Kepublican  majority  attempted  destruction  and 
civil  war.  Kings  had  made  efforts  to  destroy  its 
power  and  subvert  its  influence.  Not  a  single  noble 
family  existed  in  England  but  which  had  lost 
a  member  in  its  defense.  Society  was  organized 
to  protect  it,  and  all  good  and  true  men  are  re 
quired  to  maintain  its  teachings.  "  The  assassins 
of  liberty  are  now  in  power,  but  a  reaction  is  com 
ing.  Stand  firm,  make  no  compromise,  have  noth 
ing  to  do  with  men  who  talk  of  dead  issues.  It  is 
the  shibboleth  of  ruin.  Push  forward,  and  make 
a  square  fight  for  your  liberties." 

The  plain  but  powerful  summary  of  public  ob 
ligation  had  a  more  lasting  effect  than  his  more 
fiery  appeals.  General  Toombs  was  a  potent 
leader  in  the  campaign,  though  not  himself  a  can 
didate  or  even  a  voter.  General  D.  M.  DuBose, 
his  law  partner,  was  elected  to  Congress  this  year, 
and  the  Democratic  party  secured  a  majority  in 
the  State  Legislature.  Among  the  men  who 
shared  in  the  redemption  of  the  State  Kobert 
Toonibs  was  the  first  and  most  conspicuous. 

Some  of  the  best  speeches  made  by  General 
Toombs  at  this  time  were  delivered  to  the  farmers 
at  the  various  agricultural  fairs.  These  were  fre 
quent  and,  as  Judge  Eeese  declared,  abounded 


330  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

with  wisdom  which  caused  him  years  of  reflection 
and  observation.  He  had  been  reared  upon  a 
farm.  His  interests,  as  his  sympathies,  were  with 
these  people.  He  remained  in  active  management 
of  his  large  plantation,  Eoanoke,  in  Stewart 
County,  during  the  period  when  he  was  a  member 
of  Congress  and  even  when  he  was  in  the  army. 
Two  or  three  times  a  year  he  made  visits  to  that 
place  and  was  always  in  close  communication  with 
his  overseers.  He  loved  the  work  and  was  a  sue- 
cessful  farmer.  A  fondness  for  gardening  and 
stock-raising  remained  with  him  until  his  last 
years;  Even  in  a  very  busy  and  tempestuous  life, 
as  he  characterized  it  in  speaking  to  Judge  Reese, 
a  spacious  garden,  with  orchards  and  vineyards, 
was  to  him  an  unfailing  source  of  recreation  and 
pleasure. 

He  writes  to  his  wife  of  the  disasters  of  the 
army  at  Orange  Court  House,  Va.,  but  finds  time 
to  add :  "  The  gardens  and  fruit  are  great  addi 
tions  to  the  family  comfort,  and  every  effort 
should  be  made  to  put  them  in  the  best  condi- 
tion."  Writing  from  Richmond  of  the  condition 
of  Lee's  army  in  March,  1862,  he  does  not  forget 
to  add  :  « I  am  sorry  to  know  that  the  prospects 
of  the  crops  are  so  bad.  One  of  the  best  reliances 
now  is  the  garden.  Manure  high,  work  well,  and 
keep  planting  vegetables."  From  Roanoke,  in 
1863,  he  writes;  "My  plantation  affairs  are  not  in 


DAYS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  331 

as  good  condition  as  I  would  wish.  I  have  lost  a 
oreat  many  sheep,  have  but  few  lambs  and  little 
wool;  cattle  poor— all  need  looking  after."  In 
the  midst  of  the  shelling  of  Atlanta  in  1864,  he 
writes  from  the  trenches  to  his  wife  :  "  Tell  Squire 
to  put  your  cows  and  Gabriel's  in  the  volunteer 
oatfield.  Every  day  we  hear  cannonading  in 

front." 

It  was  in  1869  that  General  Toombs  made  one 
of  his  great  speeches  at  the  State  fair  in  Columbus, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  used  this  expression ; 
«  The  farmers  of  Georgia  will  never  enjoy  general 
prosperity  until  they  quit  making  the  West  their 
corncrib  and  smokehouse."     It  was  in  that  same 
speech  that  Toombs  said,  referring  to  the  soldiers 
of  the  South;   "Liberty,  in   its  last  analysis,  is 
but  the  sweat  of  the  poor  and  the  blood  of  the 
brave."     Most  of  the  great  men  in  Georgia  have 
been  reared  in  the  country.     There  seems  to  be 
something  in  the  pure  air,  the  broad  fields,  and 
even  the   solitude,  conducive  to  vigor  and  self- 
reliance.     Attrition  and  culture  have  finished  the 
work  laid  up  by  the  farmer  boy,  and  that  fertile 
section  of  middle  Georgia,  so  rich  in  products  of 
the  earth,  has  given  greatness  to  the  State. 

In  August,  1872,  General  Toombs  was  invited 
by  the  alumni  of  the  University  of  Georgia  to 
deliver  the  annual  address  during  commencement 
week.  A  large  crowd  was  in  attendance  and  the 


332  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

veteran  orator  received  an  ovation.     He  departed 
from  his  usual  custom  and  attempted  to  read  a 
written  speech.     His  eyesight  had  begun  to  fail 
him,  the  formation  of  a  cataract  having  been  felt 
with   great   inconvenience.      The    pages   of   the 
manuscript  became  separated  and  General  Toombs, 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  is  said  to  have  been 
embarrassed.     He  had  not  read   more   than   one 
quarter  of  his  speech  when  this  complication  was 
discovered,  and  he  was  unable  to  find  the  missing 
sheets.      Governor  Jenkins,  who  was   sitting  on 
the   stage,   whispered   to   him;  "Toombs,  throw 
away  your  manuscript  and  go  it  on  general  princi 
ples."     The   general  took  off  his  glasses,  stuffed 
the  mixed  essay  into  his  pocket,  and  advanced  to 
the  front  of   the  stage.     He   was  received   with 
a  storm    of  applause   from   the  crowd,  who  had 
relished  his  discomfiture  and  were  delighted  with 
the  thought    of  an  old-time  talk   from  Toombs. 
For  half  an  hour  he  made  one  of  his  eloquent  and 
electric  speeches,  and  when  he  sat  down  the  audi 
ence   screamed   for   more.     No   one  but  Toombs 
could  have  emerged  so  brilliantly  from  this  awk 
ward  dilemma. 

General  Toombs  opposed  the  nomination  of 
Horace  Greeley  for  President  by  the  National 
Democratic  convention  in  1872.  Mr.  Stephens 
edited  the  Atlanta  Sun,  and  these  two  friends 
once  more  joined  their  great  powers  to  prevent 


DAYS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION. 

the  consummation  of  what  they  regarded  as  a  vast 
political  mistake.  Greeley  carried  the  State  by  a 
very  reduced  majority. 

In  January,  1873,  when  Mr.  Stephens  was  de 
feated  for  the  United  States  Senate  by  General 
John  B.  Gordon,  General  Toombs  called  a  meet 
ing  of  the  leaders  of  the  eighth  district  in  his  room 
at°the  Kimball  House  in  Atlanta,  and  nominated 
his  friend  Alexander  Stephens  for  Congress.  He 
needed  no  other  indorsement.  He  was  elected 
and  reelected,  and  remained  in  Congress  until  he 
resigned  in  1882,  to  become  Governor  of  Georgia. 
Toombs  and  Stephens  never  lost  their  lead  as  dic 
tators  in  Georgia  politics. 

The   man  in   Georgia   who   suffered  most  fre 
quently   from   the   criticism  of   General  Toombs 
during   this    eventful    period    was    ex-Governor 
Joseph   E.    Brown.      His  position  in  taking   his 
place  in  the  Republican  party,  in  accepting  office, 
and  separating  himself  from  his  old  friends  and 
allies,  brought  down  upon  him  the  opprobrium  of 
most  of  the  people.      It  was  at  a  time  when  Charles 
J.  Jenkins  had  carried  away  the  great  seal  of  Geor 
gia  and  refused  to  surrender  it  to  a  hostile  govern 
ment.     It  was  at  a  time  when  Linton  Stephens, 
the  most  vigorous  as  the  most  popular  public  man 
during  the  reconstruction  period,  was  endeavoring 
to  aro°use  the  people.     Governor  Brown's  apostasy 
was  unfortunate.     No  man  was  then  more  exe- 


334  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

crated  by  the  people  who  had  honored  him.  His 
name,  for  a  while,  was  a  byword  and  a  reproach. 
Mr.  Stephens  defended  his  position  as  conscien 
tious  if  not  consistent,  and  gave  Governor  Brown 
the  credit  for  the  purity  as  well  as  the  courage  of 
his  convictions.  Governor  Brown  bore  the  con 
tumely  with  patience.  He  contended  that  he 
could  best  serve  the  State  by  assuming  functions 
that  must  otherwise  be  placed  in  hostile  hands, 
and  his  friends  declare  to-day  that  in  accepting  the 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  he  simply  occu 
pied  in  advance  the  ground  to  which  the  party 
and  the  people  were  forced  to  come.  But  his 
position  did  not  compare  favorably  with  that  of 
the  prominent  Georgians  of  that  day. 

The  relations  of  Governor  Brown  and  General 
Toombs  continued  strained.  The  latter  never 
lost  an  opportunity  to  upbraid  him  in  public  or  in 
private,  and  some  of  his  keenest  thrusts  were 
aimed  at  the  plodding  figure  of  his  old  friend  and 
ally,  as  it  passed  on  its  lonely  way  through  the 
shadows  of  its  long  probation. 

On  one  occasion  in  Atlanta,  in  July,  1872,  Gen 
eral  Toombs  among  other  things  referred  to  a 
lobby  at  the  legislature  in  connection  with  a  claim 
for  the  Mitchel  heirs.  Governor  Brown  had  re 
mained  quiet  during  his  long  political  ostracism, 
but  he  turned  upon  his  accuser  now  with  un 
looked-for  severity.  He  answered  the  charge  by 


DAYS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  335 

declaring  that  if  Toorabs  accused  him  of  lobbying 
this  claim,  he  was  an  a  unscrupulous  liar."     The 
reply  did  not  attract  much  attention  until  it  be 
came   known   that    General  Toombs   had  sent  a 
friend  to   Governor  Brown  to  know  if  the  latter 
would    accept   a  challenge.       Colonel    John    C. 
Nicholls  was  the  friend,  and  Governor  Brown  re 
turned   the   answer  that  when   he   received   the 
challenge    he   would    let    him.    know.      General 
Toombs  did  not  push  the  matter  further.     The  af 
fair  took  the  form  of  a  newspaper  controversy, 
which  was  conducted  with  much  acrimony  on  both 
sides.     Colonel  Nicholls  stated  in  print  his  belief 
that  Governor  Brown  would  not  have  accepted  a 
challenge  but  would  have  used  it  to  Toombs'  in 
jury  before  the  people.     The  prospect  of  a  duel 
between  these  two  old  men  created  a  sensation  at 
the   time.     It  would   have  been  a  shock  to  the 
public  sense  of  propriety  to  have  allowed^  such  a 
meeting.     It  would  never  have  been  permitted; 
but   Governor  Brown  seems  to  have  been  deter 
mined  to  put  the  issue  to  the  touch.     He  had  pre 
pared  his  resignation  as  a  deacon  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  had  placed  his  house  in  order.     He 
seemed  to  realize  that  this  was  the  turning-point 
of  his  career,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  General 
Toombs  gave  him  the  opportunity  to  appear  in  a 
better  light  than  he  had  done  for  a  long  time ;  this 
incident  was  the  beginning  of  his  return  to  popu- 


336  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

larity  and  influence  in  Georgia.  General  Tooinbs 
was  censured  for  provoking  Governor  Brown  into 
the  attitude  of  expecting  a  challenge  and  then  de 
clining  to  send  it. 

Both  General  Toombs  and  Mr.  Stephens  were 
believers  in  the  code  of  honor.  Mr.  Stephens 
once  challenged  Governor  Herschel  V.  Johnson, 
and  at  another  time  he  called  out  Hon.  Ben 
jamin  II.  Hill.  General  Toombs  peremptorily 
challenged  General  D.  H.  Hill  after  the  battle  of 
Malvern  Hill.  In  1859,  when  United  States 
Senator  Broderick  was  killed  by  Judge  Terry  in 
California,  Mr.  Toombs  delivered  a  striking  eulogy 
of  Broderick  in  the  United  States  Senate.  He 
said;  "The  dead  man  fell  in  honorable  contest 
under  a  code  which  he  fully  recognized.  While  I 
lament  his  sad  fate,  I  have  no  censure  for  him  or 
his  adversary.  I  think  that  no  man  under  any 
circumstances  can  have  a  more  enviable  death  than 
to  fall  in  vindication  of  his  honor.  He  has  gone 
beyond  censure  or  praise.  He  has  passed  away 
from  man's  judgment  to  the  bar  of  the  Jud^e  of 
all  the  Earth." 


CHAPTER     XXVIII. 

HIS    LAST    PUBLIC  'SERVICE. 

ONE  of  the  reforms  advocated  by  General 
Toombs  upon  the  return  of  the  white  people  to 
the  control  of  the  State  Government  was  the 
adoption  of  a  new  State  Constitution.  He  never 
tired  of  declaring  that  the  organic  law  of  1868  was 
the  product  of  "  aliens  and  usurpers,"  and  that  lie 
would  have  none  of  it;  Georgia  must  be  repre 
sented  by  her  own  sons  in  council  and  live  under 
a  constitution  of  her  own  making.  In  May,  1877, 
an  election  was  held  to  determine  the  question, 
and  in  spite  of  considerable  opposition,  even  in 
the  Democratic  party,  the  people  decided,  by  nine 
thousand  majority,  to  have  a  constitutional  con 
vention. 

On  July  10,  1877,  that  body,  consisting  of  194 
delegates,  assembled  in  Atlanta  to  revise  the 
organic  law.  Charles  J.  Jenkins  was  elected 
president  o±  the  convention.  He  had  been  de 
posed  from  the  office  of  Governor  of  Georgia  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet  in  1866.  He  had  carried 
the  case  of  the  State  of  Georgia  before  the  national 
Supreme  Court  and  contested  the  validity  of  the 

337 


338  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Reconstruction  measures.  He  had  carried  with 
him,  when  expelled  from  the  State  Capitol,  the 
great  seal  of  the  State,  which  he  restored  when 
the  government  was  again  remitted  to  his  own 
people,  and  in  public  session  of  the  two  houses  of 
the  General  Assembly,  Governor  Jenkins  had  been 
presented  with  a  facsimile  of  the  great  seal,  with 
the  fitting  words  cut  into  its  face,  "In  Arduis 
Fidelis."  These  words  are  graven  on  his  monu 
ment  to-day.  He  was  more  than  seventy  years  of 
age,  but  bore  himself  with  vigor  and  ability.  There 
was  a  strong  representation  of  the  older  men  who 
had  served  the  State  before  the  war,  and  the 
younger  members  were  in  full  sympathy  with 
them.  It  was  an  unusual  body  of  men — possibly 
the  ablest  that  had  assembled  since  the  secession 
convention  of  1861.  General  Toombs,  of  course, 
was  the  most  prominent.  He  had  been  elected  a 
delegate  from  his  senatorial  district — the  only 
office  he  had  occupied  since  the  war.  His  activity 
in  securing  its  call,  his  striking  presence,  as  he 
walked  to  his  seat,  clad  in  his  long  summer  duster, 
carrying  his  brown  straw  hat  and  his  unlighted 
cigar,  as  well  as  his  tireless  labors  in  that  body, 
made  him  the  center  of  interest.  General  Toombs 
was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  legislation  and 
chairman  of  the  final  committee  on  revision. 
This  body  was  made  up  of  twenty-six  of  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  convention,  and  to  it 


HIS  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE.  339 

were  submitted  the  reports  of  the  other  thirteen 
committees.  It  was  the  duty  of  this  committee 
to  harmonize  and  digest  the  various  matters  com 
ing  before  it,  and  to  prepare  the  final  report,  which 
was  discussed  in  open  convention.  General 
Toombs  was  practically  in  charge  of  the  whole 
business  of  this  body.  He  closely  attended  all 
the  sessions  of  the  convention,  which  lasted  each 
day  from  8.30  in  the  morning  to  1  o'clock  p.  M. 
The  entire  afternoons  were  taken  up  with  the  im 
portant  and  exacting  work  of  his  committee  of 
final  revision.  Frequently  it  was  *  far  into  the 
night  before  he  and  his  clerk  had  prepared  their 
reports.  General  Toombs  was  in  his  sixty-eighth 
year,  but  stood  the  ordeal  well.  His  facility,  his 
endurance,  his  genius,  his  eloquence  and  perti 
nacity  were  revelations  to  the  younger  men,  who 
knew  him  mainly  by  tradition.  General  Toombs 
proposed  the  only  safe  and  proper  course  for  the 
convention  when  he  arose  in  his  place  on  the  floor 
and  declared ;  "  All  this  convention  has  to  do  is 
to  establish  a  few  fundamental  principles  and 
leave  the  other  matters  to  the  legislature  and  the 
people,  in  order  to  meet  the  ever  varying  affairs 
of  human  life."  There  was  a  persistent  tendency 
to  legislate  upon  details,  a  tendency  which  could 
not  be  entirely  kept  down.  There  was  an  element 
elected  to  this  convention  bent  upon  retrenchment 
and  reform,  and  these  delegates  forced  a  long 


340  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

debate  upon  lowering  the  salaries  of  public  officers, 
a  policy  which-  finally  prevailed.  During  the 
progress  of  this  debate  General  Toonibs  arose  im 
patiently  in  his  place  and  declared  that,  "The 
whole  finances  of  the  State  are  not  included  when 
we  are  speaking  of  the  Governor's  salary,  and  you 
spend  more  in  talking  about  it  than  your  children 
will  have  to  pay  in  forty  years." 

Occasionally  he  was  betrayed  into  one  of  his 
erratic  positions,  as  when  he  moved  to  strike  out 
the  section  against  dueling,  and  also  to  expunge 
from  the  bill  t)f  rights  all  restrictions  upon  bearing 
arms.  He  said:  "Let  the  people  bear  arms  for 
their  own  protection,  whether  in  their  boots  or 
wherever  they  may  choose." 

But  his  treatment  of  public  questions  was  full 
of  sound  sense  and  discretion.  He  warned  the 
convention  that  those  members  who,  from  hostility 
to  the  State  administration,  wished  to  wipe  out 
the  terms  of  the  office-holders  and  make  a  new 
deal  upon  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution, 
were  making  a  rash  mistake.  They  would  array 
a  new  class  of  enemies  and  imperil  the  passage  of 
the  new  law.  He  advocated  the  submission  of  all 
doubtful  questions,  like  the  homestead  laws  and 
the  location  of  the  new  Capitol,  to  the  people  in 
separate  ordinances.  He  urged  in  eloquent  terms 
the  enlargement  of  the  Supreme  Court  from  three 
justices  to  five.  Having  been  a  champion  of  the 


SIS  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE.  341 

law  calling  that  Court  into  being  forty  years  be 
fore,  he  knew  its  needs  and  proposed  a  reform 
which,  if  adopted,  would  have  cut  off  much  trouble 
in  Georgia  to-day. 

General  Toonibs  was  an  advocate  of  the  ordi 
nance  which  took  the  selection  of  the  judges  and 
solicitors  from  the  hands  of  the  Governor  and 
made  them  elective  by  the  General  Assembly.  A 
strong  element  in  the  convention  wanted  the  judi 
ciary  elected  by  the  people.  A  member  of  the 
convention  turned  to  General  Toombs  during  the 
debate  and  said ;  "  You  dare  not  refuse  the  people 
this  right  to  select  their  own  judges."  "  I  dare  do 
anything  that  is  right,"  replied  Toombs.  "  It  is 
not  a  reproach  to  the  people  to  say  that  they  are 
not  able  to  do  all  the  work  of  a  complex  govern 
ment.  Government  is  the  act  of  the  people  after 
all."  He  reminded  the  convention  that  a  new  and 
ignorant  element  had  been  thrown  in  among  the 
people  as  voters.  "  We  must  not  only  protect  our 
selves  against  them,  but  in  behalf  of  the  poor 
African,"  said  he,  "  I  would  save  him  from  himself. 
These  people  are  kind,  and  affectionate,  but  their 
previous  condition,  whether  by  your  fault  or  not, 
was  such  as  to  disqualify  them  from  exercising  the 
right  of  self-government.  They  were  put  upon  us 
by  people  to  make  good  government  impossible  in 
the  South  for  all  time,  and  before  God,  I  believe 
they  have  done  it."* 


342  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

Iii  answer  to  the  argument  that  those  States 
which  had  given  the  selection  of  judges  to  the 
people  liked  it,  General  Toombs  replied  that  this 
did  not  prove  that  it  was  right  or  best.  "  It  is 
easy  to  take  the  road  to  hell,  but  few  people  ever 
return  from  it."  General  Toombs  prevailed  in 
this  point.  He  was  also  the  author  of  the  resolu 
tion  authorizing  the  legislature  to  levy  a  lax  to 
furnish  good  substantial  artificial  limbs  to  those 
who  had  lost  them  durino;  the  war. 

o 

General  Toombs  declared  frequently  during  the 
debate  that  one  of  his  main  objects  in  going 
to  the  convention,  and  for  urging  the  people  to 
vote  for  the  call,  was  to  place  a  clause  in  the  new 
law  prohibiting  the  policy  of  State  aid  to  railroads 
and  public  enterprises.  He  had  seen  monstrous 
abuses  grow  up  under  this  system.  He  had  no 
ticed  that  the  railroads  built  by  private  enter 
prise  had  proven  good  investments ;  that  no  rail 
road  aided  by  the  State  had  paid  a  dividend.  He 
declared  that  Georgia  had  never  loaned  her  credit 
from  the  time  when  Oglethorpe  landed  at  Yarna- 
craw  up  to  1866,  and  she  should  never  do  it  again. 
He  wanted  this  license  buried  and  buried  forever. 
His  policy  prevailed.  State  aid  to  railroads  was 
prohibited ;  corporate  credit  cannot  now  be  loaned 
to  public  enterprises,  and  municipal  taxation  was 
wisely  restricted.  General  Toombs  declared  writh 
satisfaction  that  he  had  locked  the  door  of  the 


HIS  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE.  343 

treasury,  and  put  the  key  into  the  pocket  of  the 
people. 

During  the  proceedings  of  this  convention  an 
effort  was  made  to  open  the  courts  to  review  the 
cases  of  certain  outlawed  bonds,  which  the  legis 
lature  had  refused  to  pay,  and  which  the  people 
had  repudiated  by  constitutional  amendment. 
Impressed  by  the  conviction  that  certain  classes 
of  these  bonds  should  be  paid,  the  venerable 
president  of  the  convention  surrendered  the  chair 
and  pled  from  his  place  on  the  floor  for  a  ju 
dicial  re  view  "of  this  question. 

No  sooner  was  this  solemn  and  urgent  appeal 
concluded  than  General  Toombs  bounded  to  the 
floor.  He  declared  with  energy  that  no  power  of 
heaven  or  hell  could  bind  him  to  pay  these  bonds. 
The  contract  was  one  of  bayonet  usurpation. 
"Within  a  few  days  the  legislature  had  loaded  the 
State  down  with  from  ten  to  fifteen  millions  of  the 
"  bogus  bonds." 

The  term  "  repudiation  "  was  distasteful  to  many. 
The  bondholders  did  not  relish  it ;  but  he  thought 
it  was  a  good  honest  word.  No  one  was  bound 
by  these  contracts,  because  they  were  not  the  acts 
of  the  people.  "  I  have  examined  all  the  facts 
pertaining  to  these  claims,"  said  Toonibs,  aand 
looking  to  nothing  but  the  State's  integrity,  I  af 
firm  that  the  matter  shall  go  no  further  without 
my  strenuous  opposition.  The  legislature  has 


344  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

again  and  again  declared  the  claims  fraudulent. 
The  people  have  spoken.  Let  the  bonds  die." 
The  convention  agreed  with  Toornbs. 

On  the  16th  of  August  the  convention,  then  in 
the  midst  of  its  labors,  confronted  a  crisis.  The 
appropriation  of  $25,000  made  by  the  legislature 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  convention  had  been 
exhausted,  and  the  State  Treasurer  notified  the 
president  that  he  could  not  honor  his  warrants 
any  further.  This  was  a  practical  problem.  The 
work  mapped  out  had  not  been  half  done.  Many 
of  the  delegates  were  poor  men  from  the  rural 
districts  and  were  especially  dependent  upon  their 
per  diem  during  the  dull  summer  season.  To  pro 
ceed  required  about  $1000  per  day.  To  have 
crippled  this  body  in  its  labors  would  have  been  a 
public  calamity.  To  check  upon  the  public  treas 
ury  beyond  the  limit  fixed  by  law  involved  a  risk 
which  the  State  Government,  not  too  friendly  to 
ward  the  convention  at  best,  declined  to  assume. 
To  raise  the  money  outside  by  a  private  loan  pre 
sented  this  risk,  that  in  the  case  of  the  rejection  of 
the  constitution,  then  in  embryo,  the  lender  might 
find  himself  the  holder  of  an  uncertain  claim.  The 
convention,  however,  was  not  left  long  in  doubt. 
With  a  heroic  and  patriotic  abandon,  General 
Toombs  declared  that  if  Georgia  would  not  pay 
her  debts,  he  would  pay  them  for  her.  Selling  a 
dozen  or  two  United  States  bonds,  he  placed  the 


HIS  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE.  345 

proceeds  to  tlie  credit  of  the  president  of  the  con 
vention,  who  was  authorized  in  turn  to  issue 
notes  of  $1000  each  and  deposit  them  with  Gen 
eral  .Toombs.  The  act  was  spontaneous,  whole- 
souled,  dramatic.  It  saved  the  convention  and 
rehabilitated  the  State  with  a  new  constitution. 
By  a  rising  and  unanimous  vote  General  Toombs 
was  publicly  thanked  for  his  public-spirited  act, 
and  the  old  man,  alone  remaining  in  his  seat  in  the 
convention  hall,  covered  his  face  with  his  hands, 
and  shed  tears  during  this  unusual  demonstration. 

When  the  convention  had  under  review  the  bill 
of  rights,  General  Toombs  created  a  breeze  in  the 
proceedings  by  proposing  a  paragraph  that  the  leg 
islature  should  make  no  irrevocable  grants  of 
special  privileges  or  immunities.  The  proposition 
received  a  rattling  fire  from  all  parts  of  the  house. 
Governor  Jenkins  assailed  it  on  the  floor  as  dan 
gerous  to  capital  and  fatal  to  public  enterprise.  It 
was  argued  that  charters  were  contracts,  and  that 
when  railroads  or  other  interests  were  put  upon 
notice  that  their  franchise  was  likely  to  be  dis 
turbed,  there  would  be  an  overthrow  of  confidence 
and  development  in  Georgia.  This  was  the  first 
intimation  of  the  master  struggle  which  General 
Toombs  was  about  to  make,  an  advance  against 
the  corporations  all  along  the  line.  It  was  the 
picket-firing  before  the  engagement. 

General    Toombs    had   made    a    study   of   the 


346  ROBERT  TOOMSS. 

whole  railroad  question.  He  was  a  master  of  the 
law  of  corporations.  He  maintained  a  peculiar 
attitude  toward  them.  He  never  invested  a 
dollar  in  their  stock,  nor  would  he  accept  a  place 
at  their  council  boards.  He  rarely  ever  served 
them  as  attorney.  When  the  General  Assembly 
resolved  to  tax  railroads  in  Georgia,  the  State 
selected  General  Toonibs  to  prosecute  the  cases. 
In  1869  he  had  argued  the  Collins  case  against 
the  Central  Railroad  arid  Banking  Company,  in 
which  the  court  had  sustained  his  position  that 
the  proposed  action  of  the  Central  Road  in  buy 
ing  up  the  stock  of  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  Rail 
road,  to  control  that  road,  was  ultra  vires.  He 
had  conducted  the  case  of  Arnold  DuBose  against 
the  Georgia  Railroad  for  extortion  in  freight 
charges. 

The  principles  he  had  gleaned  from  this  la 
borious  record  made  him  resolve  to  place  restric 
tions  upon  corporate  power  in  the  new  constitu 
tion.  The  time  was  ripe  for  this  movement.  The 
Granger  legislation  in  the  West  had  planted  in 
the  organic  law  of  Illinois,  Ohio,  and  Missouri 
the  policy  of  government  control  over  the  rail 
roads.  The  statutes  of  Pennsylvania  also  re 
flected  the  same  principles,  and  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  had  decided  this  great 
case  on  the  side  of  the  people.  General  Toombs 
was  master  of  the  legislation  on  this  subject  in 


HIS  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE.  347 

England,  and  had  studied  the  American  reports 
on  the  right  and  duty  of  the  state  to  regulate  rail 
road  companies.  He  declared,  in  proposing  this 
new  system,  that  these  laws  had  been  adopted 
by  the  most  enlightened  governments  of  the 
world.  "From  the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire 
down  to  the  present  time,"  said  Toombs,  "  it  has 
never  been  denied  that  the  state  has  power  over 
the  corporations." 

At  once  the  State  was  in  an  uproar.     "Toombs 
is  attempting  a  new  revolution,"  was  alleged.^    He 
was  charged  with  leading  an  idolatrous  majority 
into  war  upon  the  rights  of  property.     Conserv 
ative  men  like  Jenkins  deprecated  the  agitation. 
Atlanta  was  filled  with  a  powerful  railroad  lobby, 
and  the   press  resounded  with  warning  that  de 
velopment  of  the  waste  places  of  Georgia  would 
be  retarded  by  this  unjust  and  nefarious  warfare. 
Robert  Toombs  was  not  an  agrarian.     His  move 
ment  against  the  corporations  was  reenforced  by 
delegates  from  the  small  towns  in  Georgia,  who 
had  suffered  from  discrimination  in  favor  of  the 
larger  cities.     Railroad  traffic  had  been  diverted 
by^igid  and  ruthless  exactions,  and  a  coterie  of 
delegates    from   southwest  Georgia  stood  solidly 
by  Toombs.     These  debates  drew  crowds  of  lis 
teners.     From  the  galleries  hundreds  of  interested 
Georgians   looked    down   upon    the    last    public 
service   of  Robert  Toombs.     He  never  appeared 


348  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

to  finer  advantage.  His  voice  lacked  its  old-time 
ring,  his  beard  was  gray  and  his  frame  was  bent, 
but  he  was  fearless,  aggressive,  alert,  eloquent. 
He  was  master  of  the  whole  subject.  Railways, 
he  declared,  were  public  highways.  Upon  no 
other  principle  could  they  receive  land  from  the 
State,  under  its  right  of  eminent  domain,  than  that 
this  land  was  condemned  for  public  and  not  for 
private  use.  A  public  highway  means  that  it 
must  be  used  according  to  law.  In  those  States 
where  people  have  been  fighting  the  encroach 
ments  of  public  monopolies,  it  had  been  found 
necessary  to  use  these  terms,  and  Toombs  prefaced 
his  agitation  with  this  announcement. 

General  Toombs  did  not  mince  matters.  He 
declared  that  the  rapacious  course  of  the  railroads 
in  Georgia  had  been  spoliation.  Monopoly  is 
extortion.  Corporations  must  either  be  governed 
by  the  law  or  they  will  override  the  law.  Compe 
tition  is  liberty.  Keep  the  hand  of  the  law  on 
corporations  and  you  keep  up  competition ;  keep 
up  competition  and  you  preserve  liberty.  It  has 
been  argued  that  the  towns  and  counties  in  Georgia 
had  grown  rich.  That  is  the  same  argument  that 
was  made  in  the  English  Parliament.  They  said ; 
"  Look  at  your  little  colonies,  how  they  have  grown 
under  our  care."  But  the  patriotic  men  of  America 
said ;  "  We  have  grown  rich  in  spite  of  your 
oppressions."  Shall  we  not  restrain  this  tax- 


HIS  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE.  349 

gatherer  who  has  no  judge  but  himself,  no  limit 
but  his  avarice  ? 

General  Toornbs  wanted  it  placed  in  the  consti 
tution  that  the  legislature  shall  pass  these  laws 
restricting  railroads.  He  declared  he  had  twice 
drawn  bills  for  that  purpose  ;  they  had  passed  the 
House,  but  crumbled  as  though  touched  with  the 
hand  of  death  when  they  came  to  the  forty-four 
(the  Senate).  "  What,"  said  he,  "  do  I  see  before 
me  ?  The  grave.  What  beyond  that  ?  Starving 
millions  of  our  posterity,  that  I  have  robbed  by 
my  action  here,  in  giving  them  over  to  the  keep 
ing  of  these  corporations.  The  right  to  control 
these  railroads  belongs  to  the  State,  to  the  people, 
and  as  long  as  I  represent  the  people,  I  will  not 
consent  to  surrender  it,  so  help  me  God ! " 

The  spirit  of  Toombs  dominated  that  conven 
tion.  Men  moved  up  the  aisle  to  take  their  seats 
at  his  feet  as  he  poured  out  his  strong  appeal. 
One-half  of  that  body  was  filled  with  admiration, 
the  other  half  with  alarm.  "  It  is  a  sacred  thing 
to  shake  the  pillars  upon  which  the  property  of 
the  country  rests,"  said  Mr.  Hammond  of  Fulton. 
"Better  shake  the  pillars  of  property  than  the 
pillars  of  liberty,"  answered  this  Georgia  Samp 
son,  with  his  thews  girt  for  the  fray.  "  The  great 
question  is,  Shall  Georgia  govern  the  corporations 
or  the  corporations  govern  Georgia  ?  Choose  ye 
this  day  whom  ye  shall  serve !  " 


350  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

The  house  rang  with  applause.  Members 
clustered  about  the  old  man  as  about  the  form  of 
a  prophet.  The  majority  was  with  him.  The 
articles  which  he  had  advocated  came  from  the 
committee  without  recommendation,  but  they 
were  substantially  adopted,  and  are  now  parts  of 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  The  victory  was 
won,  and  Robert  Toombs,  grim  and  triumphant, 
closed  his  legislative  career,  and  claimed  this' work 
as  the  crowning  act  of  his  public  labors. 

These  principles  are  contained  in  Article  IV.  of 
the  State  constitution  of  Georgia.  It  declares  the 
right  of  taxation  to  be  sovereign,  inviolable,  and  in 
destructible,  and  that  it  shall  be  irrevocable  by  the 
State ;  that  the  power  to  regulate  freight  and  pas 
senger  tariffs  and  to  prevent  unjust  discriminations 
shall  be  conferred  upon  the  General  Assembly, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  pass  laws  for  the  same ; 
that  the  right  of  eminent  domain  shall  never  be 
abridged ;  that  any  amendment  to  a  charter  shall 
bring  the  charter  under  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution;  that  the  General  Assembly  shall 
have  no  authority  to  authorize  any  corporation  to 
buy  shares  of  stock  in  any  other  corporation, 
which  shall  have  the  effect  to  lessen  competition 
or  encourage  monopoly.  No  railroad  shall  pay 
a  rebate  or  bonus. 

Under  these  provisions,  the  Railroad  Com 
mission  of  Georgia  was  organized  in  1879.  •  This 


HIS  LAST  PUBLIC  SERVICE,  351 

idea,  as  it  finally  worked  out,  was  General  Toombs'. 
He  did  not  favor  fixing  the  rates  in  the  law,  but 
the  creation  of  such  a  commission  to  cany  out 
these  provisions.  The  present  law  was  framed  by 
Judge  William  M.  Reese,  Hon.  Samuel  Barnett, 
Ex-Senator  H.  D.  McDaniel,  and  Superintendent 
Foreacre  of  the  Richmond  and  Danville  Railroad. 
It  has  worked  well  in  Georgia.  Twice  has  the 
legislature  attempted  to  remodel  it,  but  the  people 
have  rallied  to  its  support  and  have  not  permitted 
it  to  be  amended  in  so  much  as  a  single  clause. 
It  has  served  as  an  example  for  imitation  by  other 
States,  and  was  cited  as  strong  authority  in  Con 
gress  for  the  creation  of  the  Inter-State  Commerce 
Law.  The  railroad  men.  after  fighting  it  for  ten 

o  o 

years,  have  come  round  to  acknowledge  its  value. 
It  has  stood  as  a  breakwater  between  the  corpora 
tions  and  the  people.  It  has  guaranteed  justice 
to  the  citizen,  and  has  worked  no  injury  to  the 
railroads.  Under  its  wise  provisions  Georgia  has 
prospered,  and  leads  the  Union  to-day  in  railroad 
building.  And  when,  during  a  recent  session  of 
the  legislature,  an  attempt  was  made  to  war  upon 
railroad  consolidation,  the  saving,  overmastering, 
crowning  argument  of  the  railroads  themselves 
was  that  General  Toombs  had  already  secured 
protection  for  the  people,  and  that,  under  his 
masterly  handiwork,  the  rights  of  property  and 
the  rights  of  the  people  were  safe. 


352  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

When  the  convention  had  concluded  its  labors, 
General  Toonibs  went  before  the  people  and 
threw  himself  with  enthusiasm  into  the  canvass. 
He  took  the  stump,  and  everywhere  his  voice  was 
heard  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  the  new  organic 
law.  Many  of  the  officers  whose  term  had  been 
cut  off,  and  whose  salaries  had  been  reduced,  ap 
peared  against  the  constitution.  General  Toonibs 
declared  that  those  public  men  who  did  not  ap 
prove  of  the  lower  salaries  might  "  pour  them  back 
in  the  jug."  This  homely  phrase  became  a  by- word 
in  the  canvass.  It  had  its  origin  in  this  way: 
In  the  Creek  war,  in  which  "Capt.  Kobert  A. 
Toombs  "  commanded  a  company  made  up  of  vol 
unteers  from  Wilkes,  Elbert,  and  Lincoln  counties, 
a  negro  named  Kinch  went  along  as  whisky  sut 
ler.  As  he  served  out  the  liquor,  some  of  the  sol 
diers  complained  of  the  price  he  asked.  His  an 
swer  was,  "  Well,  sir,  if  you  don't  like  it,  sir,  pour 
it  back  in  the  jug." 

In  the  State  election  of  December,  1877,  the 
new  constitution  was  overwhelmingly  adopted,  and 
will  remain  for  generations  the  organic  law  of  the 
Empire  State  of  the  South. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

DOMESTIC  LIFE  OF  TOOMBS. 

THERE  never  was  a  public  man  in  America 
whose  home  life  was  more  beautiful  or  more 
tender  than  that  of  Robert  Toombs.  As  great  as 
were  his  public  virtues,  his  lofty  character,  and 
abilities,  his  domestic  virtues  were  more  striking 
still.  He  was  a  man  who  loved  his  family.  In 
1830  he  was  married  to  Julia  A.  Dubose,  with 
whom  he  lived,  a  model  and  devoted  husband,  for 
more  than  fifty  years.  She  was  a  lady  of  rare 
personal  beauty,  attractive  manners,  and  common 
sense.  She  shared  his  early  struggles,  and  watched 
the  lawyer  grow  into  the  statesman  and  the  leader 
with  unflagging  confidence  and  love.  There  was 
never  a  time  that  he  would  not  leave  his  practice 
or  his  public  life  to  devote  himself  to  her.  His 
heart  yearned  for  her  during  his  long  separation  in 
Washington,  when,  during  the  debate  upon  the 
great  Compromise  measures  of  1850,  he  wrote 
that  he  would  rather  see  her  than  "  save  the  State." 
He  considered  her  in  a  thousand  ways.  He  never 
disappointed  her  in  coming  home,  but,  when  travel 
ing,  always  returned  when  it  was  possible,  just  at  the 

353 


354  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

time  lie  had  promised.  During  the  exciting  scenes 
attending  liis  first  election  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  he  writes  that  he  feels  too  little  interest  in 
the  result  perhaps  for  his  success,  and  longs  to 
be  at  home.  Political  honors  did  not  draw  him 
away  from  his  devotion  to  this  good  woman.  He 
never  neglected  her  in  the  smallest  way.  His  at 
tentions  were  as  pointed  and  courtly  in  her  last 
days  as  when  they  were  bright-faced  boy  and  girl, 
lovers  and  cousins,  in  the  twenties.  During  his 
labors  in  the  constitutional  convention  of  1877,  he 
one  day  wore  upon  his  lapel  a  flower  she  had 
placed  there,  and  stopping  in  his  speech,  paid  fit 
ting  tribute  to  the  pure  emblem  of  a  woman's 
love.  A  man  of  great  deeds  and  great  tempta 
tions,  of  great  passions  and  of  glaring  faults,  he 
never  swerved  in  loyalty  to  his  wedded  love,  and 
no  influence  ever  divided  his  allegiance  there. 
Writing  to  her  on  May  15,  1853,  while  he  was 
United  States  Senator,  he  says : 

MY  DEAR  JULIA  : 

This  is  your  birthday,  which  you  bid  me  remember,  and 
this  letter  will  show  you  that  I  have  not  forgotten  it.  To 
day  Gus  Bald  win  and  Dr.  Harbin  dropped  in  to  dinner,  and 
we  drank  your  good  health  and  many  more  returns  in 
health  and  happiness  of  the  15th  of  May.  I  did  not  tell 
them  that  you  were  forty,  for  it  might  be  that  some  time 
or  other  you  would  not  care  to  have  them  know  it,  and  I 
am  sure  they  would  never  suspect  it  unless  told.  In  truth 
I  can  scarcely  realize  it  myself,  as  you  are  the  same  lovely 


DOMESTIC  LIFE  OF  TOOMBS.  355 

and  loving,  true-hearted  woman  to  me,  that  you  were 
when  I  made  you  my  bride,  nearly  twenty-three  years  ago. 
There  is  no  other  ch-ange  except  the  superior  loveliness  of 
the  full  blown  over  the  budding  rose.  I  have  thrown  my 
mind  this  quiet  Sunday  evening  over  that  large  segment 
of  human  life  (twenty-three  years)  since  we  were  married, 
and  whatever  of  happiness  memory  has  treasured  up 
clusters  around  you.  In  life's  struggle  I  have  been  what 
men  call  fortunate.  I  have  won  its  wealth  and  its  honors, 
but  I  have  won  them  by  labor,  and  toil,  and  strife,  whose 
memory  saddens  even  success ;  but  the  pure  joys  of 
wedded  love  leave  none  but  pleasant  recollections  which 
one  can  dwell  upon  with  delight.  These  thoughts  are 
dearer  to  me  than  to  most  men,  because  I  know  for  what 
ever  success  in  life  I  may  have  had,  whatever  evil  I  may 
have  avoided,  or  whatever  good  I  may  have  done,  I  am 
mainly  indebted  to  the  beautiful,  pure,  true-hearted  little 
black-eyed  girl,  who  on  the  18th  of  November,  1830,  came 
trustingly  to  my  arms,  the  sweetest  and  dearest  of  wives. 
You  need  not  fear,  therefore,  that  I  shall  forget  your 
birthday.  That  and  our  bridal-day  are  the  brightest  in 
my  calendar,  and  memory  will  not  easily  part  with 

them. 

Yours, 

TOOMBS. 

So  well  known  was  this  domestic  trait  of  Mr. 
Toombs  that  Bishop  Beckwith  of  Georgia,  in 
delivering  his  funeral  sermon,  declared  that  "  no 
knight,  watching  his  sword  before  the  altar,  ever 
made  a  holier,  truer,  or  purer  vow  than  when 
Robert  Toombs  stood  at  the  marriage  altar 
more  than  fifty  years  ago.  The  fire  that  burned 
upon  the  altar  of  his  home  remained  as  pure 


356  ROBERT  TO  OMB S. 

and  unfailing  as  the  perpetual  offering  of  Jeru 
salem." 

Mrs.  Toonibs  was  a  woman  of  warm  heart  and 
stronw  convictions.     She  was  noted  for  her  benevo- 

o 

lence  and  piety,  and  these  she  carried  through 
life.  Her  Christian  example  was  a  steadying  in 
fluence  often  in  the  stormy  and  impetuous  career 
of  her  husband,  and  finally,  when  she  had  closed 
her  eyes  in  peace,  brought  him  to  the  altar  where 
she  had  worshiped.  Her  household  and  her 
neighbors  loved  to  be  under  her  influence.  No 
one  who  ever  saw  her  fine  face,  or  her  lustrous 
dark  eyes,  forgot  her.  Her  face  was,  in  some 
respects,  not  unlike  that  of  her  husband.  It  is  the 
best  tribute  that  can  be  paid  to  her  to  say  that  for 
more  than  fifty  years  her  influence  over  so  strong 
a  character  as  that  of  Robert  Toonibs  was  most 
potent.  In  June,  1856,  while  driving  in  Augusta, 
the  horses  attached  to  the  carriage  ran  away,  and 
Mrs.  Toombs  was  thrown  from  the  vehicle  and 
sustained  a  fracture  of  the  hip.  General  Toombs 
hastened  to  Georgia  from  Congress,  and  remained 
incessantly  at  her  bedside  for  several  weeks.  In 
November,  1880,  General  and  Mrs.  Toombs  cele 
brated  their  golden  wedding,  surrounded  by  their 
grandchildren  and  friends.  It  was  a  beautiful 
sight  to  see  the  bride  of  half  a  century  with  a  new 
wedding  ring  upon  her  finger,  playing  the  piano, 
while  the  old  man  of  seventy  essayed,  like  Wash- 


DOMESTIC  LIFE  OF  TOOMBS.  357 

ington,  to  dance  the  minuet.  The  old  couple 
survived  their  three  children,  and  lived  to  bless 
the  lives  of  grandchildren  and  great-grandchil 
dren.  They  were  fond  and  affectionate  par 
ents. 

A  friend,  who  had  known  them  in  their  own 
home,  describes  "the  great  fire  in  the  open  fire 
place  ;  on  one  side  the  venerable  statesman,  with 
that  head  which  always  seemed  to  me  of  such  rare 
beauty ;  on  the  other  side,  the  quiet  wife  busy 
with  home  affairs,  her  eyes  lighting,  now  and  then, 
the  wonderful  conversation  that  fell  from  his  elo 
quent  lips." 

General  Toombs  was  a  liberal  provider  for  his 
family,  and  his  grandchildren  and  connections  were 
constant  objects  of  his  bounty.  Large  sums  were 
spent  in  charity.  No  church  or  benevolent  insti 
tution  appealed  to  him  in  vain.  His  house  was 
open,  and  his  hospitality  was  princely  and  prover 
bial.  No  one  was  more  genial  at  home.  Few 
prominent  persons  ever  visited  Washington  with 
out  being  entertained  by  Toombs.  His  regular 
dinners  to  the  bar  of  the  circuit,  as,  twice  a  year, 
the  lawyers  came  to  Washington  to  court,  are  re 
membered  by  scores  of  Georgians  to-day.  On  one 
occasion  when  the  townspeople  were  discussing 
the  need  of  a  hotel,  General  Toombs  indignantly 
replied  that  there  was  no  need  for  any  such  place. 
"  If  a  respectable  man  comes  to  town,"  said  he, 


358  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

"  lie  can  stay  at  my  liouse.     If  lie  isn't  respectable, 
we  don't  want  him  here  at  all." 

No  religious  conference  could  meet  in  Wash 
ington  that  the  Toombs  house  was  not  full  of 
guests.  Many  Northern  people  visited  the  place 
to  hear  the  statesman  talk.  Newspaper  corre 
spondents  sought  him  out  to  listen  to  his  fine  con 
versation.  These  people  were  always  sure  of  the 
most  courteous  treatment,  and  were  prepared  for 
the  most  candid  expression.  General  Toombs  was 
not  solely  a  raconteur.  He  did  not  draw  upon  his 
memory  for  his  wit.  The  cream  of  his  conversa 
tion  was  his  bold  and  original  comment.  His  wit 
flashed  all  along  the  line.  His  speech  at  times 
was  droll  and  full  of  quaint  provincialisms.  He 
treated  subjects  spontaneously,  in  a  style  all  his 
own.  Strangers,  who  sat  near  him  in  a  railroad 
car,  have  been  enchanted  by  his  sage  and  spirited 
conversation,  as  his  leonine  features  lighted  up,  and 
his  irresistible  smile  and  kindly  eye  forced  good- 
humor,  even  where  his  sentiments  might  have 
challenged  dissent.  He  was  the  finest  talker  of 
his  day.  A  close  friend,  who  used  to  visit  him 
frequently  at  his  home,  declares  that  Toombs' 
powers  did  not  wait  upon  the  occasion.  He  did 
not  require  an  emergency  to  bring  him  out.  All 
his  faculties  were  alert,  and  in  a  morning's  chat  he 
would  pour  out  the  riches  of  memory,  humor, 
eloquence,  and  logic  until  the  listener  would  be 


DOMESTIC  LIFE  OF  TOOMBS.  B5d 

enthralled  by  his  brilliancy  and  power.  He  de 
lighted  to  talk  with  intellectual  men  and  women. 
He  was  impatient  with  triflers  or  dolts.  He  crit 
icised  unsparingly,  and  arraigned  men  and  measures 
summarily,  but  he  was  a  seeker  after  truth,  and 
even  when  severe,  Avas  free  from  malice  or  envy. 

General  Toombs  was  a  man  of  tender  sympa 
thies.  Distress  of  his  friends  moved  him  to  prompt 
relief.  In  1855  a  friend  and  kinsman,  Mr.  Pope, 
died  in  Alabama.  He  had  been  a  railroad  con 
tractor  and  his  affairs  were  much  involved.  Gen 
eral  Toombs  promptly  went  to  his  place,  bought 
in  his  property  for  the  family,  and  left  the  place 
for  the  wife  and  children,  just  as  it  stood.  From 
Mobile  he  writes  a  grief-stricken  letter  to  his  wife, 
December  28,  1855: 

I  feel  that  I  must  pour  out  ray  sorrows  to  someone,  and 
whom  else  can  I  look  to  but  to  one  who,  ever  faithful  and 
true,  has  had  my  whole  heart  from  my  youth  till  now? 
This  has  been  one  of  the  dark  and  sad  days  of  my  life. 
The  remains  of  my  lost  friend  Mr.  Pope  came  down  on  the 
cars  this  morning.  I  met  them  alone  at  the  depot,  except 
Gus.  Baldwin  and  the  hired  hands.  This  evening  I  accom 
panied  the  remains  to  the  boat.  Oh,  it  was  so  sad  to  see 
one  whom  so  many  people  professed  to  love,  in  a  strange 
place,  conveyed  by  hirelings  and  deposited  like  merchan 
dise  among  the  freight  of  a  steamboat  on  the  way  to  his 
long  home.  I  can  scarcely  write  now,  at  the  thought, 
through  the  blindness  of  my  own  tears.  As  I  saw  him. 
placed  in  the  appointed  spot  among  the  strangers  and 
bustle  of  a  departing  boat,  careless  of  who  or  what  he  was, 


360  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

I  stole  away  to  the  most  retired  part  of  the  boat,  to  conceal 
the  weakness  of  friendship  and  relieve  my  overburdened 
heart  with  a  flood  of  tears.  I  felt  it  would  be  a  profana 
tion  of  friendship  even  to  be  seen  to  feel  in  such  a  crowd. 
But  for  my  overwhelming  duty  to  the  living  I  would  have 
taken  the  boat  and  gone  on  with  his  remains.  This  is  the 
end  of  the  just  in  this  world.  He  was  a  good  and  an  up 
right  man  ;  never  gave  offense  to  a  human  being.  His 
family  are  ruined,  but  his  only  fault  was  want  of  judgment, 
and  too  great  confidence  in  his  kind.  He  could  not  make 
money,  and  it  really  seemed  that  his  every  effort  to  do  so 
plunged  him  deeper  into  debt.  His  great  fault  was  a  con 
cealment  of  his  own  difficulties  and  trials.  I  would  have 
done  anything  to  have  relieved  them  upon  a  full  disclosure. 
He  was  idolized  at  home,  and  I  have  Avept  at  the  sorrows 
of  the  poor  people  in  his  employment,  upon  the  very  men 
tion  of  his  death.  I  know  I  cannot  control  my  grief  and 
am  sensitive  of  my  own  weakness.  I  could  not  find  relief 
without  pouring  out  my  sorrows  to  you.  There  let  them 
rest.  Yours, 

TOOMBS. 

General  Toombs  resided  in  a  three-story  frame 
house  in  Washington,  built  after  the  manner  of 
the  olden  time,  with  the  spacious  piazza,  heavy 
columns,  the  wide  door,  and  the  large  rooms.  He 
lived  in  ease  and  comfort.  He  was  an  early  riser, 
and  after  breakfast  devoted  himself  to  business  or 
correspondence.  At  midday  he  was  accessible  to 
visitors,  and  rarely  dined  alone.  In  the  afternoon 
he  walked  or  drove.  At  night  he  sat  in  his  arm 
chair  at  his  fireside,  and  in  his  lips  invariably 
carried  an  unlit  cigar.  Smoking  did  not  a^ree 

o  o  o 


DOMESTIC  LIFE  OF  TOOMBS.  361 

with  Mm.  While  in  Europe  lie  delighted  to  test 
the  tobacco  of  the  different  countries,  but  the 
practice  always  gave  him  pain  above  the  eyes, 
last  attempt  was  in  the  army  of  Virginia.  Con 
vinced  that  smoking  injured  him,  he  never  re 
sumed  it.  Fond  of  his  dry  smoke,  he  had  a  pe 
culiar  cigar  made  to  order,  very  closely  wrapped, 
with  fine  tobacco. 

General  Toombs  made  frequent  trips  away  from 
home,  even  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life.     The 
State   retained   his   services   in   important   cases. 
One  of  his  last  public  acts  was  the  prosecution  of 
certain   railway  companies   for   back   taxes, 
recovered  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  State.     He 
was  summoned  to  Atlanta  in  1880  to  prosecute  a 
defaulting   State   treasurer.      He   appeared   very 
feeble,  but  his  speech  was  a  model  of  clearness 
and  logic.     During  the  latter  part  of  his  life  there 
was  a  return  of  his  early  fault  of  quick,  nervous, 
compressed  speech.      He  grasped  only  the  great 
hillocks  of  thought  and  left  the  intervening  ground 
to  be  filled  by  the  listener.      His  terse,  rapid  style 
was  difficult  to  follow.    As  a  presiding  judge  said, 
"  His  leaps  are  like  a  kangaroo's,  and  his  speech 
gave  me  the  headache."      But  his  argument  in  the 
Jack  Jones  case  was  a  model  of  eloquence  and  con 
vincing  law.     A  large  number  of  friends  attended 
the  court,  convinced  that  General   Toombs  was 
nearing  the  end  of  his  great  career,  and  were  as- 


362  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

toundecl  at  the  manner  in  which  he  delivered  his 
argument.  As  he  concluded  his  address  he  turned 
in  his  place  and  caught  the  eye  of  Rev.  Father  J. 
M.  O'Brien,  an  old  friend  of  his.  "Why,  Father 
O'Brien,"  he  said,  wringing  his  hand,  "  I  am  glad 
to  see  you  taking  an  interest  in  this  case.  These 
people  are  trying  to  usurp  your  functions.  They 
want  to  grant  the  defendant  absolution."  "  But, 
General,"  replied  the  quick-witted  priest,  "  even  I 
could  not  grant  absolution  until  he  had  made  res 
titution."  "  That's  the  doctrine,"  said  the  delighted 
lawyer,  pleased  to  find  that  the  point  of  his  speech 
had  taken  so  well.  His  face  was  all  aglow  with 
the  gaudia  certaminis  of  the  forum.  This  was  his 
last  appearance  in  court,  and  he  won  his  case. 

His  mother  Georgia  claimed  his  allegiance  al 
ways,  and  he  gave  her  his  last  and  best  powers. 
He  worked  for  the  commonwealth,  and  gave  the 
people  more  than  he  ever  received  in  return. 

In  Augusta,  in  1871,  when  he  appeared  before 
the  Georgia  Railroad  Commission  and  arraigned 
the  lease  of  the  State  road  as  illegal  and  un- 

O 

hallowed,  he  declared  in  a  burst  of  indignation  ; 
"  I  would  rather  be  buried  at  the  public  expense 
than  to  leave  a  dirty  shilling."  It  was  the  acme 
of  his  desire  to  live  and  die  like  a  gentleman. 

He  had  always  been  a  safe  financier.  Scorning 
wealth,  lie  had  early  found  himself  wealthy.  It  is 
estimated  that  he  made  more  than  a  million  dol- 


DOMESTIC  LIFE  OF  TOOMBS.  363 

lars  by  his  law  practice  after  the  war.  He  spent 
his  money  freely,  careful  always  to  avoid  debt. 
Further  than  this,  he  kept  no  account  of  his 
means.  Like  Astor,  he  invested  much  of  his  hold- 
ings  in  land,  and  owned  a  large  number  of  fine 
plantations  in  middle  Georgia.  When  he  died 
his  estate  probably  reached  two  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars. 


CHAPTEE  XXX. 

HIS    GKEAT    FAULT. 

No  just  biography  of  Eobert  Toombs  can  be 
written  that  does  not  take  into  notice  the  blemishes 
as  well  as  the  brightness  of  his  character.     He  was 
a  man  on  a  grand  scale.     His  virtues  were  heroic, 
his  faults  were  conspicuous.     No   man   despised 
hypocrisy  more  than  he  did,  and  no  one  would 
have  asked  any  sooner  to  be  painted  as  he  was, 
without  concealment.     During  the  latter  part  of 
his  life,  many  people  knew  him  principally  by  his 
faults.     Few  knew  what  the  wayward  Prince  Hal 
of  the  evening  had  been  to  King  Henry  in  the 
morning  hour.     Like  Webster  and  Clay,  he  was 
made  up  of  human  frailty.     As  his  intimate  friend, 
Samuel  Barnett,  said  of  him  :  « In  spite  of  splen 
did  physique,  a  man  of  blood  and  passion,  he  was 
not    only   a    model   of  domestic    virtue,    but    he 
avoided  the  lewd  talk  to  which  many  prominent 
men  are  addicted.     A  fine  sportsman  and  rider,  a 
splendid  shot,  he  was  nothing   of   the  racer   or 
gamester.     After  all,  he  was  more  of  a  model  than 
a  warning."     Among  his  faults,  the  one  which  ex- 
aggerated  all  the  others,  was   his  use  of  ardent 


304 


HIS  GREAT  FAULT.  365 

liquors.  Tliis  habit  grew  upon  him,  especially 
after  the  failure  of  the  war.  A  proud,  imperious 
nature,  accustomed  to  great  labors  and  great  re 
sponsibilities,  was  left  without  its  main  resource 
and  supplied  with  the  stimulus  of  wine.  No  man 
needed  that  stimulus  less  than  he  did.  His  was  a 
manhood  vibrant  in  age  with  the  warm  blood  of 
youth,  and  always  at  its  best  when  his  spirits  and 
intellect  alone  were  at  play.  He  was  easily 
affected  by  the  smallest  indulgence.  When  he 
measured  himself  with  others,  glass  for  glass,  the 
result  was  distressing,  disastrous.  The  immediate 
effect  of  excess  was  short.  The  next  morning  his 
splendid  vitality  asserted  itself,  and  he  was  bright 
and  clear  as  ever.  The  habit,  however,  grew  upon 
him.  The  want  of  a  physical  check  was  bad. 
This  was  the  worst  of  all  his  faults,  and  was 
exaggerated  by  special  circumstances.  It  was  less 
indulged  in  at  home  and  greatly  circulated  abroad. 
Frequently  the  press  reporters  would  surround 
him  and  expose  in  the  papers  a  mere  caricature 
of  him.  His  talk,  when  under  the  influence  of 
wine,  was  racy,  extravagant,  and  fine,  and  his  say 
ings  too  often  found  their  way  into  print.  In  this 
way  great  injustice  was  done  to  the  life  and  char 
acter  of  Robert  Toombs,  and  Northern  men  who 
read  these  quaint  sayings  and  redolent  vaporings 
formed  a  distorted  idea  of  the  man. 

To  a  Northern  correspondent  who  approached 


366  EGBERT  TOOMBS. 

him  during  one  of  these  periods,  General  Toombs 
said  :  "  Yes,  a  gentleman  whose  intelligence  revolts 
at  usurpations  must  abstain  from  discussing  the 
principles  and  policies  of  your  Federal  government, 
or  receive  the  kicks  of  crossroad  sputterers  and 
press  reporters;  must  either  lie  or  be  silent. 
They  know  only  how  to  brawl  and  scrawl  '  hot 
head  '  and  l  impolitic  maniac.'  Why,  my  free 
negroes  know  more  than  all  your  bosses.  Now, 
damn  it,  put  that  in  your  paper." 

Robert  Toombs  was  built  to  live  ninety  years, 
and  to  have  been,  at  Gladstone's  age,  a  Gladstone 
in  power.  He  took  little  pains  to  explain  his  real 
nature.  He  seemed  to  take  pains  to  conceal  or 
mislead.  He  appeared  at  times  to  hide  his  better 
and  expose  his  worse  side.  If  he  had  been  Byron, 
he  would  have  put  forward  his  deformed  foot. 
He  was  utterly  indifferent  to  posthumous  fame. 
Time  and  again  he  was  asked  to  have  his  letters 
and  speeches  compiled  for  print,  but  he  would 
never  hear  of  it.  He  'waived  these  suggestions 
away  with  the  sententious  remark,  "  that  his  life 
was  written  on  the  pages  of  his  country's  history." 
AVith  all  his  faults,  his  were  strong  principles  and 
generous  impulses.  "  We  know  something  of  what 
he  yielded,  but  we  know  nothing  of  what  he  re 
sisted."  Include  his  strength  and  his  weakness 
and  measure  him  by  other  men,  and  we  have  a  man 
of  giant  mold. 


HIS  GREAT  FAULT.  367 

Cue  who  was  very  near  to  Toombs  in  his  last 
days  said  of  him  when  he  was  dead:  "It  was 
a  thing  of  sorrow  to  see  this  majestic  old  man 
pausing  to  measure  his  poor  strength  with  a  con 
firmed  habit,  rising,  struggling,  falling,  and  pray 
ing  as  he  drifted  on." 

General  Toombs  used  to  say  that  Webster  was 
the  greatest  man  he  ever  knew,  that  Clay  managed 
men  better,  and  Calhoun  was  the  finest  logician  of 
the  century.  "  The  two  most  eloquent  men  I  ever 
heard  were  Northern  men,"  said  he  ;  "  Choate  and 
Prentiss."  "  Pierce,"  he  used  to  say,  "  was  the 
most  complete  gentleman  I  ever  saw  in  the  White 
House.  He  was  clever  and  correct.  Zachary 
Taylor  was  the  most  ignorant.  It  was  amazing 
how  little  he  knew.  Van  Buren  was  shrewd 
rather  than  sagacious.  Tyler  was  a  beautiful 
speaker,  but  Webster  declared  that  a  man  who 
made  a  pretty  speech  was  fit  for  nothing  else." 

Toombs  met  Abraham  Lincoln  while  he  was  in 
Congress.  He  related  that  Mr.  Lincoln  once 
objected  to  sitting  down  at  table  because  he  was 
the  thirteenth  man.  Toombs  told  him  that  it  was 
better  to  die  than  to  be  a  victim  to  superstition. 
At  the  Hampton  Koads  Conference,  President 
Lincoln  expressed  to  Judge  Campbell  his  con 
fidence  in  the  honesty  and  ability  of  Robert 
Toombs.  He  was  a  great  reader.  General  Toombs 
often  said  that  if  the  whole  English  literature 


368  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

were  lost,  and  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare  remained, 
letters  would  not  be  much  the  poorer.  Shake 
speare  was  his  standard.  He  was  fond  of  Swe. 
denborg,  and  in  his  early  youth  relished  Tom 
Paine. 

General  Toombs  had  a  great  affinity  for  young 
men,  upon  whom  he  exerted  a  great  influence.  He 
once  said  to  a  party  of  friends  that  gambling  was 
the  worst  of  evils  because  it  impoverished  the 
pocket  while  it  corrupted  the  mind.  "  How  about 
drinking,  General  ?  "  he  was  asked.  "  Well,  if  a 
man  is  old  and  rich  he  may  drink,  for  he  will  have 
the  sympathy  of  his  sober  friends  and  the  sup, 
port  of  his  drinking  ones." 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

HIS    LAST    DAYS. 

IN  1880  General  Toombs  appeared  in  Atlanta, 
and  addressed  the  Georgia  Legislature  in  behalf 
of  the  candidacy  of  General  A.  K.  Lawton  for  the 
United  States  Senate.  His  appearance,  as  he 
walked  up  the  aisle,  grim,  venerable,  and  deter 
mined,  .awoke  wild  applause.  He  preserved  his 
power  of  stirring  the  people  whenever  he  spoke, 
but  his  speech  was  not  as  racy  and  clear  as  it  had 
been.  "  This  was  one  of  the  occasions,"  to  quote 
from  a  distinguished  critic  of  Toombs,  "  when  the 
almost  extinct  volcano  glowed  again  with  its 
wonted  fires — when  the  ivy-mantled  keep  of  the 
crumbling  castle  resumed  its  pristine  defiance  with 
deep-toned  culverin  and  ponderous  mace;  when, 
amid  the  colossal  fragments  of  the  tottering  temple, 
men  recognized  the  unsubdued  spirit  of  Samson 
Agonistes." 

His  last  public  speech  was  in  September,  1884, 
when  the  people  of  Washington  carried  him  the 
news  of  Cleveland's  election  to  the  Presidency. 
He  came  to  his  porch  and  responded  briefly,  al 
most  inaudibly,  to  the  serenade,  but  he  was  full  of 
the  gratification  which  Southern  people  felt  over 

369 


370  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

that  event.  He  declared  that  he  did  not  know 
that  there  was  enough  manhood  in  the  country 
as  to  break  loose  from  party  ties  and  elect  a 
President.  The  fact  had  revived  his  hope  for  the 
whole  country.  He  had,  before  this,  taken  a 
gloomy  view  of  the  nation.  He  had,  on  one  occa 
sion,  declared  that  the  injection  into  the  body  pol 
itic  of  three  million  savages  had  made  good  gov 
ernment  forever  impossible.  He  had  afterward 
said  that  the  American  Constitution  rested  solely 
upon  the  good  faith  of  the  people,  and  that  would 
hardly  bind  together  a  great  people  of  diverse  in 
terests.  "  Since  1850,"  he  once  said,  "  I  have  never 
believed  this  Union  to  be  perpetual.  The  expe 
rience  of  the  last  war  will  deter  any  faction  from 
soon  making  an  effort  at  secession.  Had  it  not 
been  for  this,  there  would  have  been  a  collision  in 
1876."  But  the  election  of  Cleveland  he  regarded 
as  a  national,  rather  than  a  sectional  victory — a 
non-partisan  triumph  in  fact ;  and  it  was  at  this 
time,  the  first  occasion  since  the  war,  that  he  ex 
pressed  regret  that  he  had  not  regained  his  citizen 
ship  and  gone  back  into  public  life. 

But  his  great  power  had  begun  to  wane.  His 
tottering  gait  and  hesitating  speech  pointed  un 
mistakably  to  speedy  dissolution.  The  new-born 
hope  for  his  country  came  just  as  his  steps  ueared 
"the  silent,  solemn  shore  of  that  vast  ocean  he 
must  sail  so  soon," 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  371 

In  March,  1883,  General  Toombs  was  summoned* 
to  Atlanta  to  attend  the  funeral  of  his  lifelong 
friend  Mr.  Stephens.  The  latter  had  been  an  in 
valid  for  forty  years,  but  was  kept  in  active  life 
by  the  sheer  force  of  his  indomitable  will.  Emerg 
ing  from  the  war  a  prisoner,  he  had  finally  secured 
his  release  and  had  been  elected  United  States 
Senator.  Being  prevented  from  taking  his  seat, 
he  had  returned  home  and  finished  his  constitu 
tional  review  of  the  "  War  Between  the  States." 
In  1873  he  had  been  reflected  to  Congress,  where 
he  had  remained  for  ten  years,  resigning  this  posi 
tion  to  accept  the  nomination  for  Governor  of 
Georgia,  which  his  party  had  offered  him  at  a 
critical  moment.  It  had  been  the  desire  of  the 
"  Great  Commoner  "  to  "  die  in  harness,"  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that  his  close  attention  to  the  arduous 
duties  of  Governor  hastened  his  death.  Thousands 
of  Georgians  repaired  to  the  State  Capitol  to 
honor  his  memory,  but  he  who  attracted  most  at 
tention  was  the  gray  and  grief -stricken  companion 
who  stood  by  the  coffin  of  the  man  he  had  honored 
for  fifty  years.  Mr.  Stephens,  in  his  diary,  recalls 
the  fact  that  his  first  meeting  with  Mr.  Toombs 
was  in  court,  when  the  latter  generously  offered  to 
lend  him  money  and  look  after  his  practice  so  that 
Stephens  could  take  a  trip  for  his  health. 

Like  Damon  and  Pythias,  these  two  men  were 
bound  by  the  strongest  ties.     They  entered  public 


372  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

life  together  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Georgia. 
Together  they  rode  the  circuits  as  young  attorneys, 
and  each  was  rewarded  about  the  same  time  with 
a  seat  in  the  national  councils.  Both  were  con 
spicuous  in  the  ante-bellum  agitation,  and  both  were 
prominent  in  the  Civil  War.  As  age  advanced 
their  relations  were  closer  still. 

General  Toombs  at  the  funeral  of  his  friend  pro 
nounced  a  eulogium  on  the  dead.  His  words 
were  tremulous,  and  the  trooping,  tender  memories 
of  half  a  century  crowded  into  the  anguish  of  that 
moment.  Toombs  and  Stephens,  so  long  united 
in  life,  were  not  long  parted  in  death. 

In  September,  1883,  Mrs.  Toombs  died  at  her 
summer  residence  in  Clarkesville,  Ga.  Their  de 
voted  friend,  Dr.  Steiner,  was  with  them  at  the 
time,  and  rendered  the  double  offices  of  family 
physician  and  sympathetic  friend.  Between  these 
two  men  there  had  been  a  warm  and  long  friend 
ship.  Dr.  Steiner  talked  with  General  Toombs 
about  his  spiritual  condition.  A  godly  man  him 
self,  the  doctor  thought  that  he  might  remove  any 
doubts  that  might  linger  in  the  mind  of  the 
stricken  husband.  He  was  gratified  to  hear  that 
the  way  was  clear.  "  Why,  doctor,"  said  General 
Toombs,  "  I  am  a  prayerful  man.  I  read  the  Bible 
and  the  Prayer  Book  every  day."  "  Then  why  not 
be  baptized,  General?"  "Baptize  me,  doctor," 
was  his  prompt  reply.  Dr.  Steiner  answered  that 


UIS  LAST  DATS.  373 

there  was  no  immediate  need  of  that.  The  gen 
eral  was  in  good  health.  Dr.  Steiner  had  bap 
tized  patients,  he  said,  but  it  was  in  times  of 
emergency.  It  was  the  desire  of  General  Toombs 
to  be  baptized  at  the  bedside  of  his  wife.  In  a 
short  time  Robert  Toombs  was  in  communion  with 
the  Southern  Methodist  Church.  It  was  his  wife's 
beautiful  example,  "moving  beside  that  soaring, 
stormy  spirit,  praying  to  God  for  blessings  on  it," 
which  brought  him  to  a  confession  of  his  faith, 
and  left  him  in  full  fellowship  with  God's  people. 
General  Toombs'  health  commenced  visibly  to 
fail  after  his  wife's  death,  and  the  loss  of  Mr.  Ste 
phens  made  life  lonely.  His  younger  brother 
Gabriel,  himself  in  the  shadow  of  a  great  affliction, 
was  with  him  constantly.  They  were  devotedly 
attached  to  each  other.  Mr.  Gabriel  Toombs  is,  in 
personal  appearance,  very  much  like  his  brother. 
The  long,  iron-gray  hair,  brushed  straight  out  from 
his  head,  reminds  one  of  Robert  Toombs.  lie  is 
smaller  in  stature,  and  is  a  man  of  strong 
abilities,  even  temperament,  and  well-balanced 
mind.  His  brother  had  great  regard  for  his  busi 
ness  judgment  and  political  sagacity,  and  often 
consulted  him  on  public  matters.  These  men 
lived  near  each  other  in  Washington,  their  fam 
ilies  grew  up  together,  and  General  Toombs  re 
garded  his  brother's  children  almost  as  he  did 
his  own. 


3V4  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

On  the  30th  of  September,  1885,  Kobert 
Toombs  was  confined  to  his  house  by  illness.  It 
was  a  general  breaking  down  of  his  whole  system. 
It  was  evident  that  he  was  neariug  his  end. 
During  his  last  illness  his  mind  would  wander, 
and  then  his  faculties  would  return  with  singular 
clearness.  He  suffered  little  pain.  As  Henry 
Grady  said  of  him,  it  seemed  that  this  kingly 
power  and  great  vitality,  which  had  subdued 
everything  else,  would  finally  conquer  death.  His 
ruling  instinct  was  strong  in  dissolution.  He  still 
preserved  to  the  last  his  faculty  of  grasping  with 
ease  public  situations,  and  "  framing  terse  epi 
grams,  which  he  threw  out  like  proverbs." 

During  one  of  his  lucid  intervals  he  asked  for 
the  news.  He  was  told  ;  "  General,  the  Georgia 
Legislature  has  not  yet  adjourned." 

"  Lord,  send  for  Cromwell,"  he  answered,  as  he 
turned  on  his  pillow. 

Another  time  he  was  told  that  the  Prohibition 
ists  were  holding  an  election  in  the  town.  "  Pro. 
hibitionists,"  said  he,  "  are  men  of  small  pints." 

His  mind  at  this  period  dwelt  mainly  on  seri 
ous  thoughts.  The  Bible  was  read  to  him  daily. 
He  was  perfectly  aware  of  his  condition.  lie 
said  to  Dr.  Steiner :  "  Looking  over  my  broad 
field  of  life,  I  have  not  a  resentment.  I  would  not 
pang  a  heart." 

He  talked  in  his  delirium  of  Mr.  Stephens  and 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  875 

Dr.  Steiner.  The  latter  recalled  him  and  said  : 
"  General,  I  am  here  by  your  side ;  Mr.  Stephens, 
you  know,  has  crossed  over  the  river."  Coming 
to  himself,  he  said :  "  Yes,  I  know  I  am  fast  pass 
ing  away.  Life's  fitful  fever  will  soon  be  over.  I 
would  not  blot  out  a  single  act  of  my  life." 

Dr.  Steiner  declared  that  he  never  before  real 
ized  so  fully  the  appropriateness  of  Mr.  Stephens' 
tribute  to  Toombs ;  "  His  was  the  greatest  mind 
I  ever  came  in  contact  with.  Its  operations,  even 
in  its  errors,  remind  me  of  a  mighty  waste  of 
waters." 

When  the  time  came  for  Dr.  Steiner  to  return 
to  his  home  in  Augusta,  General  Toombs  bade 
him  good-by.  I  am  sorry,"  said  he,  "  the  hour  is 
come.  I  hope  we  shall  meet  in  a  better  place." 

After  Thursday,  December  10,  General  Toombs 
did  not  regain  consciousness.  On  Monday,  De 
cember  15, 1885,  at  6  o1clock  p.  M.,  he  breathed  his 
last.  Just  as  the  darkness  of  a  winter  evening 
stole  over  the  land  the  great  spirit  of  the  states 
man  walked  into  eternal  light. 

He  was  buried  on  Thursday,  December  18,  at 
twelve  o'clock.  The  funeral  exercises  were  held 
in  the  little  brick  Methodist  church  where  his 
wife  and  daughter  had  worshiped. 

The  funeral  was  simple,  according  to  his  wishes. 
A  large  number  of  public  men  in  Georgia  attended 
the  services.  Dr.  Hillyer,  a  prominent  Baptist 


376  ROBERT  TOOMBS. 

divine  and  classmate  of  General  Toombs,  assisted 
in  the  services.  Kt.  Rev.  John  W.  Beckwith,  Epis 
copal  Bishop  of  Georgia,  who  had  been  his  closest 
religious  adviser  after  the  death  of  the  Methodist 
Bishop  George  F.  Pierce,  delivered  a  beautiful 
eulogiurn. 

The  remains  were  interred  in  the  Washington 
cemetery,  by  the  side  of  the  body  of  his  wife.  A 
handsome  marble  shaft,  bearing  the  simple  and 
speaking  inscription  u  Robert  Toombs,"  marks  the 
spot  which  is  sacred  to  all  Georgians. 


THE   EOT). 


INDEX. 


Abolitionists,  election  of  "Inde 
pendent  Democrats  "  by,  109  ; 
in  campaign  of  185(5,  140; 
effect  of  Dred  Scott  case  on,  159 

Acliison,  David  K.,  leader  in 
U.  S.  Senate,  107 

Act  of  1789,  claim  for  enforce 
ment  of,  73-76 

Adams,  John  Q.,  compact  with 
Clay.  14  ;  charge  of  corruption 
against,  55;  member  of  Twenty- 
ninth  Congress,  56 

Alabama,  delegates  withdraw 
from  Charleston  convention, 
177  ;  secession  of,  213  ;  escape 
through,  301-303 

Alabama,  escape  on  the,  305 

Alexander,  W.  F..  joins  in  Euro 
pean  trip,  125  ;  appointed 
Quartermaster-major,  237 

Alexander,  Mrs.  W.  F.,  death, 
312 

Aliens,  Toombs'  welcome  for, 
150,  151 

Alps,  visit  to  the,  126 

American  party,  rise,  121;  op 
posed  and  denounced  by 
Toombs,  .124,  128,  147,  149; 
successes  and  defeats  in  1855, 
128;  nominates  Fillmore,  140; 
opposition  to  Toombs'  party, 
143;  principles,  148;  nominates 
Hill  for  governorship  of 
Georgia,  155;  downfall,  158 

Amsterdam,  visit  to,  126 

Anderson,  Major,  besieged  at 
Fort  Sumter,  227-229 

Andrews,  Judge,  defeated  for 
governorship  of  Georgia,  128 

Andrews'  Grove,  debate  between 
Toombs  and  Hill  in,  145-152 


Antietam,  battle  of.  262-269 

Anti-railroad  agitation,  26 

Appleton,  Nathan,  entertains 
Toombs  at  Boston,  130 

Appleton,  William,  entertains 
Toombs  at  Boston,  130 

Arkansas,  delegates  leave 
Charleston  convention,  177; 
secedes,  233 

Army  Appropriation  bill,  debate 
between  Toombs  and  Davis  on, 
247-249 

Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  5, 
262 

Army  of  Potomac,  defeated  be 
fore  Richmond,  246 

Articles  of  Confederation,  bear 
ing  on  slavery  question,  132 

Athens,  University  at,  7-12 

Atlanta,  quarrel  between  Ste 
phens  and  Cone  in,  62;  in  the 
field  before,  276;  political 
meeting  at,  324 

Atlanta  Sun,  edited  by  Stephens, 
332 

Atlantic  cable,  opposes  appropri 
ation  for,  194 

Augusta,  Ga.,  speeches  at,  47- 
50,  165-168 

Augusta  Chronicle  and  Sentinel, 
defends  Toombs,  186 

Baltimore,  delegate  to  Clay  con 
vention  at,  46;  Whig  convention 
at,  97  ;  Democratic  convention 
at,  97 

Baltimore  convention,  the,  ac 
tion  in  regard  to  Georgia  dele 
gations,  182 

Banking,  position  on,  33,  39 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  32 


377 


3*78 


INDEX. 


Bar,  admission  to  the,  13 

Earnest,  Samuel,  frames  railroad 
law,  351 ;  tribute  to  Toombs, 
364 

Bartow,  Francis  S.,  deputy  to 
Provisional  Congress,  215 

Bayard,  James  A.,  leader  in  U. 
S.  Senate,  107  ;  member  of 
Charleston  convention,  176  ; 
presides  over  seceders  from 
Charleston  convention,  178 

Beaverdam  Creek,  3 

Beckwith,  Bishop  John  W.,  eulo- 
g-ium  on  Toombs,  355,  376 

Bell,  John,  leader  in  U.  S. 
Senate,  107  ;  vote  on  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  115  ;  nominated 
for  Presidency,  183  ;  vote  in 
Georgia  for,  184 

Benjamin,  Judah  P.,  Attorney 
General  of  Confederate  States, 
221  ;  legal  practice  in  England, 
310 

Beimiiig,  Col.,  assumes  command 
of  Toombs'  brigade,  268 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  on  disunion, 
81 

Berrien,  John  M.,  censured  by 
Georgia  Democrats,  39  ;  repre 
sents  Georgia  in  U.  S.  Senate, 
68  ;  in  campaign  of  1851,  93 
94 

Bill  of  Rights,  in  Constitutional 
convention,  345 

Bird,  Edge,  reunion  with 
Toombs,  298,  299 

Black,  Edward  J.,  opposes 
Toombs  in  campaign  of  1844, 
53 

Blaine,  J.  G.,  characterization  of 
Toombs'  farewell  speech  in 
Senate,  205  ;  on  bombardment 
of  Sumter,  229  ;  on  ravages  of 
Confederate  ships,  232  ;  ob 
jects  to  Toombs'  restoration  to 
citizenship,  313 

Blair,  Frank  P.,  nominated  for 
Vice-presidency,  324 

Blockade  of  Southern  ports,  229 

Bonds,  repudiation  of  outlawed, 
343,  344 


Boston,  lecture  in,  129-135 

Boston  Journal,  on  Toombs'  lec 
ture,  131 

Boyd  Amendment,  80 

Braddock,  Gen.,  massacre  of  his 
command,  1 

Bragg,  Gen.,  opposed  by 
Toombs  and  Lintou  Stephens, 
274 

Breckenridge,  John  C.,  elected 
vice  president,  152;  nomi 
nated  for  Presidency,  183;  vole 
in  Georgia  for,  184;  last  attend 
ance  at  Confederate  Cabinet, 
282 

Bright,  John,  restrains  recog 
nition  of  Confederacy,  232, 
233 

Broderick,  Senator,  eulogized  by 
Toombs,  336 

Brooks,  Preston  S. ,  assaults 
Sumner,  141,  142;  reelected, 
142 

Brown,  John,  raid  on  Harper's 
Ferry,  169;  execution,  169;  in 
fluence  of,  170;  Toombs'  char 
acterization  of  his  raid,  172, 
173 

Brown,  Joseph  E.,  nominated 
for  governorship  of  Georgia, 
154;  rise  of,  156,  157;  support 
ed  by  Toombs,  157;  ability, 
158;  elected  governor,  158;  can 
didate  for  reelection  to  gov 
ernorship,  166;  seizes  Fort 
Pulaski,  214;  opposes  Con 
scription  and  Impressment 
Acts,  273;  commended  by 
Toombs,  278;  parting  with 
Toombs,  281;  joins  Republican 
party,  290;  strained  relations 
with  Toombs,  333-336 

Browne,  W.  M.,  Confederate  As 
sistant  Secretary  of  State,  237 

Brussels,  visit  to,  126 

Buchanan,  James,  on  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  114,  115;  nomi 
nated  for  Presidency,  141; 
elected,  152;  position  on  Terri 
torial  question,  159;  dissolution 
of  Cabinet,  199 


INDEX. 


379 


Bullock,  Gov.,  317,  320,  321 

Bunker  Hill  Monument,  denial 
of  speech  about  slave  roll-call, 
at,  119 

Burt,  Armistead,  member  of 
Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56 

Bush  Arbor  meeting,  324-327 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  member  of 
Charleston  convention,  1  <6 

Butler,  Senator,  Sumner's  stric 
tures  on,  142 

Calhoun,  John  C. ,  compared  with 
Toombs,  14  ;  as  a  lawyer,  16  ; 
conflict  with  Jackson,  29 ; 
admiration  of  Toombs  for,  31 , 
104,  367;  railroad  schemes  of, 
41  ;  arraigned  for  the  "  sugar 
letter,"  46  ;  characterization  of 
acquired  Mexican  territory,  67  ; 
last  efforts  of,  68,  79,  107 

California,  acquisition  of,  67 ; 
question  of  admission  of,  77- 
81,  85  ;  Toombs'  ideas  on  ex 
clusion  of  slavery  from,  91  ; 
supports  the  South  in  Charles 
ton  convention,  177 

Cameron,  Simon,  criticised  by 
Toombs,  197 

Canada,  favors  purchase  of, 
195 

Caribbean  Sea,  advocates  making 
a  mare  datisam,  196 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  view  of  the 
Civil  War,  233;  Toombs'  inter 
views  with,  310 

Gass,  Lewis,  defeated  for  the 
Presidency,  63  ;  leader  in  U. 
S.  Senate,  107 ;  enmity  to,  by 
Northern  men,  118 

Catlett,  Miss,  3 

Central  America,  favors  purchase 
of,  195 

Centreville,  Johnston's  advance 
to,  238  ;  Toombs'  retreat  from, 
239;  escape  of  Toombs  through, 
292 

Chandler,  Daniel,  9 

Charles  I.,  legend  of  Toombs1 
ancestors  and,  1,  2,  156 

Charleston,     S.     C.,     Yancey's 


speech  in,  178  ;    excitement  at 

bombardment  of  Sumter,  227 

Charleston  convention,  the,  175- 

181 

Charlton,  Robert  M.,  Democratic 
leader,  51  ;  opposition  to 
Toombs,  95 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  represents 
Ohio  in  U.  S.  Senate,  68. 
107  ;  an  "  Independent  Demo 
crat,"  109  ;  vote  on  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  115 
Chattahoochee  River,  Toombs' 

escape  by,  301 
Chenault,  Nick,  288 
Cherokee  County,  sends  Brown 

to  State  Senate,  157 
Chickahominy  River,  Johnston's 

retreat  behind,  245 
Chickamauga,    dispute    between 
Gen.  Hill  and  Gen.  Walker  at 
battle  of,  258,  259 
Choate,  Rufus,  Toombs  on,  367 
Cilley  duel,  the,  55 
Cincinnati  Platform  of  1856,  141, 

165 
Civil   war,    Toombs'   horror  of, 

120 ;  opening  of  the,  227. 
Clarke,    Gen.    John,    feud   with 

Crawford,  29,  30 
Clarkesville,    Ga.,   summer  resi 
dence  at,  372 

Clay,  Henry,  14  ;  Toombs'  opin 
ion  of,  38,  50,  104,  367  ;  nomi 
nated  for  Presidency,  46 ; 
Compromise  measures,  52,  79  ; 
opposition  to,  in  campaign  of 
1844,  54,  55  ;  popularity,  55  ; 
position  in  campaign  of  1848, 
60  ;  opinion  on  disposition  of 
acquired  territory,  67  ;  last 
efforts  of,  68  ;  the  "  Omnibus 
bill,"  80;  death,  107;  denies 
framing  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise,  113  ;  position  on  internal 
improvements,  188  ;  his  loss 
felt,  201 
Clay  and  Adams  compact,  the, 

14 

Clayton  Compromise,  the,  61,  62, 
64 


380 


INDEX. 


Cleveland,       Grover,      Toombs' 

speech  on  election  of,  370 
Cobb,  Gov.  Howell,  as  a  lawyer, 
16,  20,  21  ;  Democratic  leader, 
51  ;  member  of  Twenty-ninth 
Congress,  56  ;  elected  Speaker 
of  House  of  Representatives, 
69  ;  position  on  admission  of 
California,  81 ;  position  on  dis 
union,  82  ;  nominated  for  gov 
ernorship,  86  ;  characteristics 
of,  87  ;  in  campaign  of  1851, 
92 ;  elected  governor,  93  ; 
opinion  of  Joseph  E.  Brown, 
155  ;  indorses  seceders  from 
Charleston  convention,  179 ; 
prominence  of,  186  ;  deputy  to 
Provisional  Congress,  215  ; 
president  of  Provisional  Con 
gress,  216  ;  addresses  meeting 
at  Atlanta,  324 

Cobb,  Thomas  R.  R.,  zeal  for 
secession,  212  ;  deputy  to  Pro 
visional  Congress,  215 
Cobb,  Thomas  W.,  guardian  of 

Robert  Toombs,  7,  8 
College  discipline,  8,  9 
Collins  _  v.     Central    R.     R.    & 
Banking  Co.,  case  argued  by 
Toombs,  346 

Colquitt,  Walter  T.,  elected  U. 
8.    Senator,    38 ;    Democratic 
leader,  51 
Columbia  County,  legal  practice 

in,  15 
Columbia  River,  boundary  line 

of,  57 
Commerce,    Toombs'    views  on 

the  power  to  regulate,  189 
Committee  on  Banking,  General 

Assembly,  chairman  of,  33 
Committee  on  Internal  Improve 
ments,      General      Assembly, 
member  of,  33  ;   chairman  of, 
40 

Committee     on     State     of    the 
Republic,    General  Assembly, 
chairman  of,  33 
Committees,  views  on  legislation 

through,  196 
Compromise  bill,  the,  52 


Compromise  of  1850,  the,  67-82  ; 
indorsed  by  Whig  and  Demo 
cratic  conventions  at  Baltimore, 
97  ;    Gen.  Scott's  position  on 
103 

Cone,  Francis  H.,  as  a  lawyer, 
16  ;  opposed  to  Toombs  at  the 
bar,  25  ;  quarrel  with  Stephens, 

Confederacy,  last  days  of  the, 
^  280-284 

Confederate  commissioners,  mis 
sion  to  Washington,  252-224, 
sent  to  Europe,  229 

Confederate  navy,  captures  by, 

Confederate  States,  preparation 

of  Constitution  for,  219,  220  ; 

appointment  of  Cabinet,  221  ; 

last  meeting  of  Cabine.t,  282 

Conscription    and    Impressment 

Acts,  opposition  to,  272,  273 
Constitutional  Union  party,  81, 

93,  183 

Constitutional  convention,  and 
the  new  constitution  of 
Georgia,  337-352 

Conventions,    Toombs'    opinion 

of,  103,  104,  106 
Corporations,    attitude    toward 
346 

Crawford,  George  W.,  as  a 
lawyer,  16  ;  resolution  in  Whig 
convention  of  1848,  60  ;  con 
nection  with  the  Golphin 
claim,  65  ;  retirement  of,  66  ; 
presides  over  State  Sovereignly 
convention,  209 

Crawford,  Martin  J.,  deputy  to 
Provisional  Congress,  215  ; 
Confederate  commissioner  to 
Washington,  222 

Crawford,  William  H.,  career, 
13,  14,  16;  feud  with  Clarke, 
29,  30  ;  heads  Whig  electoral 
ticket  in  Georgia,  1848,  60 

Creek  War,  Toombs'  service 
in,  32 ;  anecdote  of  sutler, 
352 

Creole,  Toombs'  escape  on  the, 
303,  304 


INDEX. 


381 


Crittenden  Compromise,  the, 
202,  203 

Cuba,  favors  purchase  of,  195, 
196  ;  arrival  in,  307 

Cumberland  Gap,  railroad 
scheme  for,  41 

Cumming,  Major  J.  B. ,  259 

Cummings  Point  battery,  tires 
on  Fort  Sumtcr,  227 

Cushing,  Caleb,  president  of 
Charleston  convention,  175  ; 
resigns  chairmanship  of  Balti 
more  convention,  182 ;  pre 
sides  over  seceders  from  Bal 
timore  convention,  183 

Dallas,  George  M.,  attitude  on 
tariff  question,  50  ;  Georgia's 
vote  for,  55 

Danburg,  letter  from  Toombs  to 
constituents  at,  199-201 

Davis,  Col.,  quarrel  with  Henry 
Clay,  54,  55 

Davis,  Jefferson,  Toombs'  ad 
vice  to,  23  ;  member  of  Twenty- 
ninth  Congress,  56  ;  on 
Toombs'  financial  ability,  59  ; 
represents  Mississippi  in  U.  S. 
Senate.  68  ;  defeated  by  Footc, 
97  ;  debate  with  Douglas  on 
popular  sovereignty,  163,  164  ; 
personal  traits,  163 ;  Senate 
resolutions  concerning  South 
ern  principles,  181 ;  election  to 
Presidency  of  Confederate 
States,  217,  218  ;  appoints  his 
Cabinet,  221  ;  belief  in  Seward, 
223  ;  Toombs'  opinion  of,  241, 
242,  246  ;  debate  with  Toombs 
on  Army  Appropriation  bill, 
247-249  ;  policy  and  character 
of,  274,  275  ;  attends  last  meet 
ing  of  Confederate  Cabinet, 
281,  282  ;  tribute  to  Toombs, 
284  ;  arrest  of,  284  ;  last  meet 
ing  with  Toombs,  284,  285  ;  in 
irons,  298 

Davis,  John  "W.,  elected  Speaker 
of  Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56 

Dawson, William  C.,  as  a  lawyer, 
16  ;  candidate  for  governor  of 


Georgia,  37  ;  enters  U.  S.  Sen 
ate,  68 

Deas,  Joseph,   aids  Toombs'  es 
cape,  296 

Declaration  of  Independence,  po 
sition  on  slavery  question,  132 
Declaration  of  Paris,  accepted  by 
Confederate  government,  231 
Delaware  delegates  leave  Charles 
ton  convention,  177 
Democratic  party,  strength  in 
Georgia,  30  ;  supports  central 
bank  scheme,  38 ;  censures 
Senator  Berrien,  39  ;  criticised, 
48  ;  carries  additional  protec 
tion  measure,  51  ;  attempt  to 
defeat  Toombs  by,  in  1848,  63, 
64;  elects  Cobb  Speaker  of 
House,  69 ;  joint  action  with 
\Vhigs  in  Georgia,  85  ;  conven 
tion  at  Baltimore,  97  ;  loss  of 
House  majority,  121  ;  nomi 
nates  Buchanan,  141 ;  nominates 
Brown  for  governor  of  Geor 
gia,  154  ;  split  over  Territorial 
question,  166,  167  ;  demand  for 
new  plank  in  platform,  167  ; 
split  among  Georgia  Democrats, 
182  ;  success  in  State  legisla 
ture,  329 

Depreciation  of  currency,  31 
District  of  Columbia,  Clay's  pro 
posed  abolition  of  slave  trade 
in,  79  ;   amendment  as  to  slav 
ery  in,  202 
Disunion,     opposition    to,     81  ; 

clamor  for,  83 
Dooly,  Judge,  14 
"  Door  sill"  speech,  the,  170-174. 
Dougherty,  Robert,  9 
Douglas,  Stephen  A. ,  member  of 
Twenty-ninth    Congress,    56 ; 
enters  U.  S.  Senate,  68 ;  leader 
in   U.   S.   Senate,   107 ;    intro 
duces    Kansas-Nebraska    bill, 
108,  109  ;  second  bill  on  Kan 
sas-Nebraska    question,     109  ; 
burned  in  effigy,  115  ;    Presi 
dential  aspirations,    140,  161  ; 
debate     with     Lincoln,     161, 
162  ;  accused  of  participation 


382 


INDEX. 


Douglas,  Stephen  K.—Cont'd. 
iu  assault  on  Sumner,  142, 
143;  eulogized  by  Toonibs, 
148,  149,  164,  165,  167;  op 
poses  Lecompton  constitution, 
160  ;  indorses  Dred  Scott  deci 
sion,  100  ;  reelected  to  U.  S. 
Senate,  162,  163;  views  on 
popular  sovereignty,  163,  164  ; 
resolution  for  protection  of 
States  against  invasion,  170- 
172 ;  rupture  with  Toonibs, 
181  ;  nominated  for  Presi 
dency,  182;  vote  in  Georgia 
for,  184 

Dred  Scott  case,  159 

Droomgooie,  George  C.,  member 
of  Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56 

Du  Bose,  Dudley  M.,  Toonibs' 
adjutant-general,  237 ;  forms 
partnership  with  Toombs,  316  ; 
sent  to  Congress,  329 

Du  Bose,  Mrs.  Dudley  M.,  death 
of,  310 

Du  Bose  v.  Georgia  Railroad, 
case  argued  by  Toombs,  346 

Du  Qucsue,  Fort,  massacre  at,  1 

Eberhart  case,  the,  25,  26 

Elbert  County,  admission  to  bar 
in,  13  ;   legal   practice  in,  15, 
16,  22,  23;   popularity  in,  22  ; 
escape     through,      288,     289 
292 

Elberton,  Ga.,  speech  at,  89 

Electoral  vote,  views  on  count 
ing,  193,  194 

Emigrant  Aid  Societies,  115-118 
159 

Enghien,  visit  to,  309 

England,  introduction  of  slavery 
into  Colonies  by,  134 

English  compromise  on  Lecomp 
ton  constitution,  164. 

Eugenie,  Empress,  Toombs'  in 
terviews  with,  310 

Europe,  trip  in,  125-128  ;  hesi 
tation  of  powers  in  regard  to 
the  Confederacy,  233 

Evans,  Augusta  J.,  aids  Toombs' 
escape,  302,  303 


Evans,   Howard,   aids    Toombs' 

escape,  302,  303 
Everett,  Edward,  nominated  for 

Vice-presidency,  183 

Fanning,  Welcome,  6 

Felton,  W.  H.,  opposition  to, 
105 

"Fifty-four  forty,  or  fight,"  57 

Fillmore,  Millard,  nominated  for 
Vice-presidency,  60 ;  on  repeal 
of  Missouri  Compromise,  115  ; 
nominated  for  Presidency,  140  ; 
Toombs'  characterization  of, 
149,  150 ;  electoral  vote  for 
152 

Finance  Committee  of  Provisional 
Congress,  chairman  of,  220 

Fish,  Hamilton,  vote  on  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  115 

Fitzpatrick,  Gov.,  declines  nom 
ination  for  Vice-presidency, 
182 

Florida,  delegates  leave  Charles 
ton  convention,  177  ;  secession 
of,  213 

Foote,  Henry  S.,  represents  Mis 
sissippi  in  U.  S.  Senate,  68  ; 
elected  governor  of  Mississippi, 
97  ;  contest  with  Davis  in  Mis 
sissippi,  163 

"Forbidden  Fruit,"  67 

Force  bill,  the,  51 

Foreacre,  Supt.,  frames  railroad 
law,  351 

Forensic  eloquence,  18,  21,  24, 
25,  27,  28,  361 

Forsyth,  John,  Confederate  com 
missioner  to  Washington,  222 

Forsythe,  John  C.,  attitude  on 
the  Compromise  bill,  52 

Forts.     See  their  names. 

France,  Mexican  schemes,  233; 
political  events  in,  309,  310 

Franklin  College,  6-12 

Franklin  County,  legal  practice 
in,  16 

Freemasons,  joins  the,  289 

Freeport,  111.,  debate  between 
Lincoln  and  Douglas  at,  161, 
162 


INDEX. 


383 


Free-Soil  party,  89 

Free-Soil  settlers,  115,  116 

Fremont,  John  0.,  nominated 
for  Presidency,  140  ;  electoral 
vote  for,  152 

French,  Capt.  H.  L.,  account  of 
Toombs  at  second  battle  of 
Manassas,  261 

Fugitive-Slave  law,  Clay's  pro 
posed,  79  ;  the  Georgia  plat 
form,  86  ;  indorsed  by  Whig 
convention  at  Baltimore,  97  ; 
Webster's  attitude  on,  100 ; 
allusion  to,  in  Boston  lecture, 
131 

Fugitive-Slave  laws,  passage  of 
new,  ±70 ;  proposed  amend 
ments,  202  ;  demands  of  the 
South  as  10,  206 

Fulton,  Col.  M.  C.,  narrow 
escape  of,  304 

Gardner,  James,  candidate  for 
governorship  of  Georgia,  157 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  denunciation  of 
U.  S.  Constitution,  129 

General  Assembly,  service  in  the, 
17,  30-46 ;  vote  for  Speaker 
in,  33 

Geneva,  visit  to,  126 

Georgia,  land-grant  to  Major 
Robert  Toombs  in,  2  ;  distress 
in,  34-37;  first  railroad  in,  40  ; 
internal  improvements,  40  ;  es 
tablishment  of  Supreme  Court, 
41  ;  organization  of  Congres 
sional  districts,  44  ;  supports 
Jackson  in  1824,  51  ;  Henry 
Clay  in,  55  ;  panegyric  on,  58  ; 
formation  of  "  Hough  and 
Ready "  clubs  in,  60  ;  the 
Clayton  Compromise  in,  60-62; 
formation  of  Constitutional 
Union  party,  81,  183  ;  growth 
of  secession  sentiment  in,  83, 
201,  204  ;  adoption  of  the 
"  Georgia  Platform,"  86  ;  nom 
ination  of  Howell  Cobb  for 
governor,  86  ;  nomination  of 
McDonald  for  governor,  86 ;  a 
national  battle  ground,  102; 


supports  Pierce  and  King,  102, 
103  ;  uncertainty  of  politics  in, 
121  ;    breaking   up   of   Know- 
nothing   party   in,    122 ;    cam 
paign  of   1855,    128  ;_  vote  for 
Buchanan  in  convention,  141  ; 
cajnpaign    of   1856,    143-152  ; 
politics'in,  145  ;  carried  by  Bu 
chanan,  152  ;  campaign  of  1857, 
154  ;  opposition  to  Brown's  re 
election,  166 ;    indorsement  of 
Toombs'   sentiments  by,    168  ; 
position  on  the  Fugitive-Slave 
law,  174  ;    action  of  delegates 
to  Charleston  convention,  179  ; 
split  in  Democratic  party,  182  ; 
vote  in  1860,  184;  prominence 
in  1860,  186;  call  for  State  con 
vention,    200  ;    votes  for  seces 
sion,  209 ;  institution  of  slavery 
in,  211;  wealth  at  time  of  seces 
sion,  213  ;  agricultural  policy 
during  war,  275  ;   the   militia, 
276-278  ;  the  March  to  the  Sea, 
280  ;  Gov.  Brown's  address  to 
people  of,    290;    Toombs'   ac 
quaintance   in,    299;    Toombs' 
return  to,  315  ;   in   reconstruc 
tion  days,  315-H29  ;    Constitu 
tional  convention,  and  the  new 
constitution,  337-352  ;  railroad 
commission  formed,  350,  351 

Georgia  Platform,  the,  83,  93,  97 

Georgia  Railroad,  40 

Gettysburg  and  Malvern  Hill 
compared,  252 

Gillet,  R.  H.,  vote  on  Kansas-Ne 
braska  bill,  115 

Gilmer,  George  R.,  as  a  lawyer, 
16  ;  on  railroad  construction, 
41 

Glen  Spring,  Ga.,  meeting  be 
tween  Hill  and  Brown  at,  155 

Golphin  claim,  the,  65 

Gonder,  Major,  aids  Toombs' 
escape,  294,  295 

Gordon,  Gen.  John  B.,  interview 
with  Tilden,  321  ;  nominated 
for  governor,  324 

Gordonsville,  Toombs  under  ar 
rest  at,  259,  260 


384 


INDEX. 


Grady,  Henry  W.,  characteriza 
tion  of  J.  E.  Brown,  156  ;  at 
Bush  Arbor  meeting,  827  ;  on 
Toombs'  approaching  death, 
374 

"  Gray  Alice,"  5,  268,  288,  292 
297,  300,  301 

Great  Britain,  contention  over 
Oregon  question,  56-59 ;  ac 
cused  of  lack  of  sympathy  with 
the  North,  230  ' 

"  Great  Pacificator,"  the,  201 

Greeley,  Horace,  nomination  op 
posed  by  Toombs,  105,  332 

Greene  County,  partition  of  land 
in,  3  ;  legal  practice  in,  16 

Gresham,  J.  J.,  179 

Gulf  of  Mexico,  advocates  mak 
ing  a  mareclausum,  196 

Habersham     County,     escape 

through,  291 
Hagarstown,  taken  possession  of 

by  Toombs,  265 
Hale,     Senator,     contest      with 

Toombs  in  Kansas  debate  117- 

120 
Hallet,  B.  F.,  letter  from  Toombs 

to,  119 
Hamlin,  Hannibal,    member  of 

Twenty-ninth    Congress,    56  ; 

vote  on  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 

115 

Hardeman,  Frank,  14 
Hardeman,  Judge  Samuel  H.,  26 
Harper's    Ferry,   John  Brown's 

raid  on,  169 
Harrisburg  convention,  demands 

protection,  51 
Harrison,  W.  H. ,  election  of ,  33; 

Toombs'  interest  in  election  of, 

45 

Harrison  Landing,  Toombs'  es 
cape  by,  288 

Hayne,  R.  Y.,  challenge  to  Web 
ster,  175 
Hayti,   effects  of    emancipation 

in,  134 

Heard  House,  the,  282 
Hill,  Benjamin  H.,  as  a  lawyer, 

20  ;  associated  with  Toombs  in 


Eberhart  case,  26 ;  opposition 
to  Toombs,  95  ;  rising  fame  of 
144  ;  debate  with  Toombs,  144 
-152  ;  nominated  for  govern 
orship  of  Georgia,  155  ;  sup 
ports  Bell  and  Everett,  184 ; 
Vincent's  characterization  of, 
184,  185  ;  deputy  to  Provi 
sional  Congress,  215  ;  chosen 
Confederate  Senator,  241  ;  ad 
dresses  meeting  at  Atlanta,  324, 
327  ;  challenged  by  Stephens, 
336 

Hill,  Gen.  D.  H.,  at  Malvern 
Hill,  252,  253  ;  charges  against 
Toombs,  and  correspondence 
thereon,  254-258  ;  character 
258,  259  ;  challenged  by 
Toombs,  336 
Billiard,  Henry  W.,  member  of 

Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56 
Hillyer,  Dr.,  assists  in  Toombs' 

funeral  services,  375,  376 
Holt,      Hines,      opposition      to 

Toombs,  95 
Homestead  and  Exemption  laws 

38,  317,  340 
Hood,  Gen.  J.  B.,  in  command  of 

Confederate  forces,  276 
House  of  Representatives,  U.  S., 
Toombs'   action    on   organiza 
tion  of  House,  Dec.  22,   1850 
71-76 

Houston,      Samuel,      represents 

Texas    in   U.    S.    Senate,    68  ; 

comparison  of  Toombs   with, 

131 

Houston  County,  Toombs'  escape 

through,  299 
Huger,  Gen.,  245 
Hughes,       Co).      David,      aids 

Toombs'    escape,     297 
Huling,  Catharine,  3,  4 
Hunter,   Robert  M.  T.,  member 
of  Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56  ; 
represents  Virginia  in    U.  S. 
Senate,  68  ;  succeeds  Toombs' 
as  Secretary  of  State,  237 

Illinois,  contest  between  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  in,  161,  162  ;  re- 


INDEX. 


385 


Illinois.— Confd. 
election  of  Douglas  to  Senate, 
163 ;    government    control    of 
railroads,  346 

Internal  improvements,  views  on, 
188-191,  197;  principles  of 
Confederate  Constitution  on, 
220 

Interstate  Commerce  Law,  Geor 
gia's  influence  in  framing,  351 

Intoxicating  liquor,  use  of,  364- 
368 

Ireland,  tour  through,  126 

Irvin,  Charles  E.,  aids  Toombs 
to  escape,  287-305  ;  arrested  at 
Savannah,  291;  war  record,  305 

Jack  Jones  case,  the,  361 

Jackson,  Pres.  Andrew,  defeated 
by  Adams,  14 ;  conflict  with 
Calhoun,  29  ;  Toombs'  vote 
for,  30  ;  opposition  to,  by 
Troup,  31;  attitude  on  tariff 
of  1824,  51;  nullification  proc 
lamation,  52  ;  position  on  in 
ternal  improvements,  188 

Jackson,  Chief  Justice,  tribute 
to  Toombs,  27,  28 

Jamaica,  effects  of  emancipation 
in,  134 

James  River,  Army  of  Potomac 
driven  back  to,  24 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  supports  the 
tariff,  48 ;  detestation  of  party 
machinery,  106  ;  position  on 
internal  improvements,  188 

Jefferson  County,  on  the  stump 
in,  90 

Jenkins,  Charles  J.,  as  a  lawyer, 
16  ;  elected  Speaker  of  House, 
General  Assembly,  33 ;  de 
feated  for  U.  S.  senatorship, 
38  ;  reports  the  "  Georgia  Plat 
form,"  86  ;  author  of  the  Geor 
gia  Platform,  92;  93  ;  opinion 
of  Berrien,  93  ;  nominated  for 
Vice-presidency,  99  ;  career  of, 
101 ;  personal  character,  102 ; 
disputes  reconstruction  meas 
ures,  323  ;  carries  off  the  great 
seal  of  Georgia,  333,  338  ;  pres 


ident  of  Constitutional  con 
vention,  337 ;  deposed  from 
governorship,  337 ;  views  on 
railroad  question,  345 

Johnson,  Andrew,  member  of 
Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56  ; 
impeachment  of,  310;  Toombs' 
interview  with,  313 

Johnson,  Herschel  V.,  Demo 
cratic  leader,  51;  elected  gov 
ernor  of  Georgia,  128;  leads 
Union  wing  of  Georgia  Demo 
crats,  182  ;  nominated  for  Vice- 
presidency,  183 ;  challenged 
by  Stephens,  336 

Johnson,  R.  M.,  reunion  with 
Toombs,  298,  299 

Johnson,  Fort,  fires  on  Fort 
Sumter,  227 

Johnston,  Gen.  Joseph  E.,  on 
first  battle  of  Manassas,  238  ; 
advance  on  Washington,  238; 
withdraws  from  Manassas, 
239  ;  heated  interview  with 
Toombs,  243  ;  recognizes 
Toombs'  worth,  243,  244 ;  re 
treats  behind  the  Chickahom- 
iny,  245  ;  criticism  of  South 
ern  soldiers,  271 ;  relieved  from 
command,  276  ;  struggle  with 
Sherman,  280 

Jones,  Gen.  D.  R.,  report  of 
second  battle  of  Manassas, 
261  ;  reports  of  Toombs' 
actions  at  Antietam,  264,  265 

Judiciary  Committee,  General 
Assembly,  chairman  of,  33,  38 

Kansas,  civil  war  in,  115-118, 
159  ;  Pierce's  message  on  state 
of,  115,  116 

Kansas  bill,  opposition  to,  166 

Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  107-115  ; 
dissatisfaction  with,  in  Georgia, 
143  ;  Hill  on,  147-149 

Kennan,  A.  H.,  deputy  to  Pro 
visional  Congress,  215 

Kentucky,  partial  secession  meas 
ures  of,  233 

Kimball  House  Company,  finan 
cial  dealings  of  Toombs  with,  42 


386 


INDEX. 


Kinch, ,  sutler  in  Creek  war, 

352 

Knott,  Pres.  Eliphalet,  13 
Know-nothing  party.  See  Ameri 
can  party 

Labor,  views  on,  197 

Lamar,  A.  R.,  description  of 
Toombs,  236,  237 

Lamar,  De  Rosset,  Toombs'  aid- 
de-camp,  237 

Lamar  tine,  Toombs  compared 
with,  76 

Land-jobbing,  opposition  to,  53 

Lane,  Jack,  reunion  with 
Toombs,  298,  299 

Lane,  Joseph  C.,  nominated  for 
Vice-presidency,  183 

Lanier,  Sidney,  284 

Lawton,  A.  R.,  supported  by 
Toombs,  369 

Lecompton  constitution,  favored 
by  Buchanan,  160  ;  passes  the 
Senate,  164 

Lee,  Gen.  Robert  E.,  captures 
John  Brown,  169  ;  successes  of, 
246  ;  invades  Maryland,  262  ; 
report  of  Toombs' actions  at 
Antietam,  264 

Le  Seur,  Alexander,  aids 
Toombs'  escape,  288,  289 

Lewis,  D.  W.,  defeated  by 
Stephens,  93 

Lexington,  Ga.,  speech'  in,  92  ; 
debate  between  Hill  and 
Stephens  at,  144,  145 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  views  on 
slavery  question,  67  ;  personal 
traits,  161, 162  ;  opposes  Doug 
las,  161,  162  ;  letter  to 
Stephens,  199  ;  election  of, 
199 ;  Toombs'  views  of  his 
policy,  200  ;  war  pressure  on, 

224  ;    compared  with  Seward, 

225  ;  relies  on  Northern  unan 
imity,  226  ;  proclaims  blockade 
of  Southern  ports,    229 ;    dis 
putes    with    McClellan,   239  ; 
confidence  in  Toombs,  367 

"Little  Giant,"  the,  109,  161 
Longstreet,     Gen.,     opinion    of 


Toombs,  106,  241 ,  271  ;  quarrel 
with  Toombs,  259,  260  ;  report 
of  Manassas  and  Maryland 
campaign,  269  ;  compliments 
Toombs,  269  ;  Toombs'  opin 
ion  of,  325 

Lookout  Mountain,  last  meeting 
of  Davis  and  Toombs  at,  284, 
285 

Louisiana,  Calhoun's  "sugar 
letter  "  to,  46  ;  delegates  leave 
Charleston  convention,  177 ; 
secession  of,  216 

Lumpkin,  Joseph  H.,  as  a  law 
yer,  16  ;  opinion  of  Toombs' 
legal  skill,  20 

Lumpkin,  murder  case  at,  23 

Lyons,  visit  to,  126 

Lyons,  Lord,  British  minister  at 
Washington,  230 

Macon  County,  Toombs'  escape 
through,  299 

Madison,  James,  position  on 
internal  improvements,  188 

Magna  Charta,  lecture  on,  327- 
329 

Magruder,  Gen.,  operations  on 
Warwick  River,  244 ;  com 
mand  on  the  peninsula,  245 

Mallory,  S.  B. ,  Secretary  of  Navy 
of  Confederate  States,  221 

Mallorysville,  Ga.,  speech  at, 
46 

Malvern  Hill,  battle  of,  1,  252, 
253 

Manassas,  first  battle  of,  238  ; 
evacuated  by  Confederates, 
239  ;  Toombs  at  second  battle, 
260-262 

Manufactures,  argument  in  fa 
vor  of,  49 

March  to  the  Sea,  the,  280 

Marcy,  Secretary,  231 

Marietta,  speech  in,  91 

Marque,  letters  of,  229-232 

Marseilles,  visit  to,  126 

Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  38 

Marshall,  Humphrey,  duel  with 
Henry  Clay,  55  ;  recognizes 
Toombs  at  New  Orleans,  305 


INDEX. 


387 


Martin,  Major  Luther,  gives 
Toombs  his  parole  papers,  291; 
his  house  raided,  292 

Maryland,  invasion  of,  202 

Mason,  A.  D.,  commissioner  to 
Europe,  229 

Mason,  James  M.,  represents  Vir 
ginia  in  U.  S.  Senate,  68  ;  reads 
Calhoun's  last  speech,  79,  107 

Massachusetts,  power  of  Aboli 
tionists  in,  109;  withdraws  from 
Baltimore  Convention,  182 

Mattox.  Col.  W.  H.,  shelters 
Toombs,  292 

Maximilian,  Emperor,  defeat  and 
execution  of,  233 

May  brick,  Mrs.,  9 

McClellan,  Gen.,  succeeds  Mc 
Dowell,  238  ;  disputes  with 
Lincoln,  239  ;  marches  up  the 
peninsula,  244 

McDaniel,  H.  D.,  frames  railroad 
law,  351 

McDonald,  Charles  J. ,  relief 
measures  of,  34-37  ;  reelected, 
37  ;  supports  central  bank 
scheme,  38  ;  represents  Georgia 
at  Nashville  convention,  85  ; 
nominated  for  governor,  86 ; 
Toombs  on  the  nomination  of, 
90  ;  supported  by  Berrien,  93  ; 
defeated,  93  ;  opposition  to 
Toombs,  158 

McDowell,  Gen.,  succeeded  by 
McClellan,  238 

Me  Duffle,  George,  as  a  lawyer, 
16  ;  Toombs'  contentions  with, 
45-51  ;  Democratic  leader,  51 

McKennon, , resignation  from 

Interior  Department,  101 

McMillan,  Robert,  as  a  lawyer, 
16  ;  defeated  by  Toombs,  93 

Mediterranean,  visit  to,  126 

Memminger,  C.  G.,  as  a  lawyer, 
21  ;  Secretary  of  Treasury  of 
Confederate  States,  221 

Merriweather, ,  Whiff  leader, 

51 

Mexican  war,  fruits  of,  60 

Mexico,  defense  of,  in  Texas 
question,  53  ;  Toombs'  opin 


ions  on  conquest  of,  59  ;  the 
Clayton  Compromise,  61  ; 
troubles  over  territory  ac 
quired  from,  67  ;  Toombs 
favors  purchase  of,  195 ; 
French  schemes  in,  233 

Might  against  right,  112 

Milledge,  Gov.  John,  7 

Milledgeville,  Toombs  in  General 
Assembly  at,  17;  Toombs'  prac 
tice  in,  22,  123  ;  doctrine  of 
States'  Rights,  affirmed  at  con 
vention  of  1833,  52  ;  conven 
tion  of  1850  at,  86 ;  call  for 
State  convention  in  1860  at, 
179  ;  meeting  of  State  Sove 
reignty  convention  at  in  1861, 
209 

Miller,  Andrew  J.,  16 

Mirabeau,  Toombs  compared 
with,  46,  70 

Mississippi,  position  in  secession 
question,  97  ;  delegates  leave 
Charleston  convention,  177  ; 
secession  of,  213 

Mississippi  River,  views  on  ap 
propriations  for,  189-191 

Missouri,  sends  settlers  to  Kansas, 
115,  159  ;  representation  at 
Baltimore  convention,  182 ; 
partial  secession  measures  of, 
233  ;  government  control  of 
railroads  in,  346 

Missouri  Compromise,  refusal  to 
extend  the  line  of,  67  ;  Sum- 
ner's  claims  for,  108 ;  de 
nounced  by  Toombs,  114  ; 
Fillmore  on  the  repeal  of,  115 

Mobile,  Ala.,  escape  through, 
301-303 

Monopolies,  hatred  for,  26,  348, 
349 

Monroe,  Fortress,  McClellan's 
arrival  at,  244  ;  Stephens  im 
prisoned  at,  298 

Monroe,  James,  position  on  in 
ternal  improvements,  188 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  Provisional 
Congress  at,  216 

Morris  Island  fires  on  Sumter, 
227 


388 


INDEX. 


Morton,  Oliver  P.,  314 

Moses,  R.  J.,  Toombs'  commis 
sary  general,  237  ;  account  of 
dispute  between  Toombs  and 
Gen.  Hill,  256,  257 

Moultrie,  Fort,  tires  on  Fort 
Sumter,  227 

Mount  Pleasant  battery  fires  on 
Fort  Sumter,  227 

Muuson's  Hill,  Toombs'  position 
at,  238 

Naples,  visit  to,  126 
Nashville,  convention  at,  85 

National  debt,  views  on,  197 

National  Democratic  party,  de 
feated,  327  ;  nominates  Greeley 
for  Presidency,  332 

Neahmatha,  insurrection    of,  32 

Negroes,  Toombs  on  the  status 
of,  133-137;  Toombs'  treat 
ment  of  his,  138,  139  ;  decis 
ion  of  Dred  Scott  case,  159  ; 
Toombs'  position  toward, 
after  the  war,  341 

New  Mexico,  bill  to  organize,  65  ; 
acquisition  of,  67  ;  question  of 
organizing  Territory,  79,  80 

New  Orleans,  fall  of,  245  ;  escape 
through,  304,  305 

Newspaper  criticisms  and  mis 
representations,  365,  3G6 

New  World,  return  to  America 
on  the,  313 

New  York  City,  speech  for 
Taylor  in  1848,  64 

New  York  State,  power  of  Aboli 
tionists  in,  109 

New  York  Express,  on  Boston 
lecture,  131,  132 

Nicholls,  Col.  John  C.,  messen 
ger  from  Toombs  to  Brown, 
335 

Nisbet,  Eugenius  A.,  offers 
secession  resolution,  209  ;  dep 
uty  to  Provisional  Congress  215 

Norfolk,  loss  of,  245 

North  Carolina,  supports  Jack 
son,  29  ;  secedes,  233 

Northern  Circuit  of  Georgia,  the 
bar  of,  16 


"Notes  on  the   Situation,"  185 

326 
Nullification,  51,  52 

O'Brien,  Rev.  J.  M.,  362 
Ocmulgee    River,    watched    for 
Toombs,   298;   escape  across, 

Ocouee  River,  7,  296 
Oglethorpe,  Ga., escape  through, 

Oglethorpe  County,  legal  prac 
tice  in,  15,  16,  25 

Ohio,  position  in  regard  to  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  60  ;  power 
of  Abolitionists  in,  109  ;  gov 
ernment  control  of  railroads 
in,  346 

Olin,  Stephen,  9 

Omnibus  bill  (Clay's),  80 

Omnibus  bill  (State  aid  to  rail 
roads),  opposed  by  Toombs, 

Ordinance  of  Secession,  209,  214 
Oregon     supports  the   South  in 

Charleston  convention,  177 
Oregon  question,  prominence  in 

1845,  56-59 
Outlawry,  Toombs'  glory  in,  23 

Paine,  Tom.,  Toombs' liking  for, 

368 

Panic  of  1837,  16,  31,  41 
Paris,  visit  to,  126  ;  night  to,  308 
Payne,    Henry  B.,     member  of 

Charleston  convention,  176 
Peace  congress,  234 
Peace  resolutions,  273 
PeachTree  Creek,  in  battle  at,  276 
Pennsylvania,   government  con 
trol  of  railroads,  346 
Pension    grabs,   views  on,    192, 

193,  197 

Peter's  Colony  Grant,  152 
Phillips, Wendell,  oratory  of,  129 
Pickens,  Gov.,  Democratic  leader, 

51  ;    notified  in  regard  to  Fort 

Sumter,  224 

Pierce,  Bishop  Geo.  F.,  10, 11, 376 
Pierce,  Pres.    Franklin,  Toombs' 

estimate  of,   367;  message  on 


INDEX. 


389 


Pierce,  Pres.  Franklin — Confd. 
state  of  Kansas,   115,   116  ;  ve 
toes  Mississippi  River  bill,   191 

Polk,  Pres.  James  K.,  attitude 
toward  protection,  50 ;  Geor 
gia's  vote  for,  55  ;  position  on 
Oregon  question,  57  ;  forced  to 
retire  from  Oregon  position, 
59  ;  veto  of  River  and  Harbor 
bill,  188  ;  vetoes  supported  by 
Toombs,  191 

Pope,  Sarah,  3 

Pope, ,  death  of,  and  gener 
osity  of  Toombs  to  his  family, 
359,  360 

Pope,  Gen.,  driven  from  Vir 
ginia,  262 

Popular  sovereignty,  Douglas' 
doctrine  of,  162-164 

Postal  service,  views  on,  197 

Pottle,  Judge  E.  H.,  25,  26 

"  Pour  it  back  in  the  jug," 
352 

Prather,  Col.,  shelters  Toombs, 
290 

Prentiss,  Sergeant  S.,  vanquished 
in  debate  by  Davis,  163 

Presidential  vote,  Toombs'  views 
on  counting,  193 

Principles  of  Magua  Charta,  lec 
ture,  327-329 

Privateers,  229-232 

Produce  Loan,  the,  236 

Prohibitionists,  Toombs'  opinion 
of,  374 

Protection,  defense  of,  48-50  ;  in 
campaign  of  1844,  51 

Provisional  Congress  of  seceded 
States,  214-218 

Pulaski,  Fort,  seized  by  Gov. 
Brown,  214 

Railroad  Commission  of  Georgia, 
350,  351  ;  Toombs'  appear 
ance  before,  362 

Railroad  corporations,  Toombs' 
attitude  toward,  342,  345-351 

Randall,  S.  J.,  proposes  General 
Amnesty  Act,  313 

Randolph,  John,  duel  with 
Henry  Clay,  55 


Rapidan  River,   Confederate  re 
tirement  along,  239  ;   Toombs' 
brigade  at  the,  259 
Rap pahan nock  River,  Confeder 
ates  retire  behind,  239 
Reagan,  J.  H.,  Postmaster  Gen 
eral  of  Confederate  States,  221  ; 
recognizes     Toombs'     merits, 
270  ;    last  attendance  at  Con 
federate  Cabinet,  282 

Reconstruction  Acts,  views  on, 
325,  326 

Reese,  Judge  William  M.,  on 
the  practice  of  law,  15  ;  descrip 
tion  of  Toombs  by,  24  ;  opinion 
of  Toombs'  speeches,  329,  330  ; 
frames  railroad  law,  351 

Religion,  liberality  in  matters  of, 
124,  125 

Republican  party,  formation  of, 
140  ;  growing  strength  of,  161  ; 
arraigned  by  Toombs,  172- 
174,  203  ;  opposition  to,  in 
Georgia,  324 

Repudiation,  343,  344 

Rhett,  R.  Barnwell,  Democratic 
leader,  51  ;  member  of  Twenty- 
ninth  Congress,  56 

Rhine,  voyage  down  the,  126 

Richmond,  Va.,  call  for  conven 
tion  in,  178  ;  chosen  as  capital 
of  Confederacy,  232 ;  Mc- 
Clellan's  march  on,  244  ; 
Toombs  at  defense  of,  245, 
246 

Right  to  bear  arms,  views  on, 
340 

River  and  Harbor  bills,  views 
on,  188-191 

Roanoke,  plantation  at,  23,  330 

Roman,  A.  B.,  Confederate  com 
missioner  to  Washington,  222 

Roman  Catholic  Church, 
Toombs'  liberality  toward, 
124 

Rome,  visit  to,  126 

Rost,  A.  P..  commissioner  to 
Europe,  229 

"Rough  and  Ready"  clubs, 
60 

Russia  supports  the  North,  233 


390 


INDEX. 


Sanders,  Miss,  3 

Savannah,  siege  of,  279;  arrest  of 
Irvin  at,  291 

Savannah  River,  views  on  clear 
ing,  188;  Toombs'  escape  by, 
288 

"  Scarlet  Letter,"  the,  178 

Schenectady,  college  course  at, 

Scotland,  tour  through,  126 

Scott,  Gen.  Wintield,  service  un 
der,  32;  opposition  to,  by 
Southern  Whigs,  98;  Toombs' 
estimate  of,  98,  99;  defeats 
Webster,  100;  vote  for,  in 
1852,  103;  rupture  of  Whig 
party  in  Georgia  on  his  nomi 
nation,  121;  opinion  of  Fort 
Sumter,  223 

Secession,  clamor  for,  83,  201; 
assertion  of  right  of,  87; 
Toombs  charged  with  foment 
ing,  94;  foreseen  by  Toombs, 
200;  Toombs  committed  to  the 
policy,  203;  Georgia's  vote  for, 
209;  passage  of  Ordinance  of, 
209 

Seward,  William  H.,  enters  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  68,  107;  an  "  In 
dependent  Democrat,"  109; 
vote  on  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
115;  refuses  audience  to  Con 
federate  commissioners,  222; 
views  on  evacuation  of  Fort 
Sumter,  222,  223;  compared 
with  Lincoln,  225;  accuses 
Great  Britain  of  lack  of  sym 
pathy,  230;  diplomacy  of, 
233 

Seymour,  Horatio,  nominated 
for  Presidency,  324 

Sharpsburg,  battle  of,  263-269 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  March  to  the 
Sea,  280 

"  Siamese  Twins,"  the,  182 

Simpson,  W.  W.,  reunion  with 
Toombs,  298,  299 

Slaughter,  James  M.,  letter  from 
Yancey  to,  177,  178 

Slavery,  Gabriel  Toombs'  treat 
ment  of  negroes,  3;  arraign 


ment  of  Calhoun  for  the 
"sugar  letter,"  46;  Toombs' 
attitude  toward,  46,  47,  48;  the 
Clayton  Compromise,  61,  64; 
Lincoln's  views  on,  67,  162; 
Toombs'  actions  and  speeches 
on  slavery  in  Territories,  69 
76-81,  164,  166,  167,  181;  Clay's 
resolutions  to  abolish,  in  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  79  ;  protest 
against  admission  of  California 
by  Nashville  convention,  85; 
Toombs  accused  of  unsound- 
ness  on  the  question  of,  85;  the 
Georgia  Platform,  86;  Toombs' 
ideas  on  exclusion  of,  from 
California,  91;  the  Kansas-Ne 
braska  bill,  108-115;  provi 
sions  for,  in  U.S.  Constitution, 
114;  question  reopened  by 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  114;  lec 
ture  in  Boston  on,  129-135; 
Toombs  on  the  status  of  the 
negro,  133-137;  decision  of 
Dred  Scott  case,  159;  Southern 
view  of  Dred  Scott  decision 
as  affecting  Territories,  162; 
Douglas'  views  on,  in  Terri 
tories.  163,  164;  anxiety  in  the 
South  for  protection  of,  165; 
demand  for  new  plank  in  plat 
form  of  Democratic  party,  167; 
deadlock  on,  in  Charleston 
convention,  177;  Lincoln's  let 
ter  to  Stephens,  199;  tendency 
toward  extinction,  199;  meas 
ures  before  the  House,  202;  tlie 
Crittenden  Compromise,  202, 
203;  demands  of  the  South  as 
to,  206;  institution  in  Georgia, 
211 

Slidell,  John,  member  of  Twen 
ty-ninth  Congress,  56;  leader  in 
U.  S.  Senate,  107 

Smith,  Col.  Jack,  aids  Toombs' 
escape,  295 

Smith,  Col.  Marshal  J.,  aids 
Toombs'  escape,  305 

Smith,  George  W.,  242 

South,  stability  of  social  institu 
tions  in,  138;  demands  of  the, 


INDEX. 


391 


South—  Oont'd. 

as  set  forth  by  Toombs,  SOS- 
SOS;  sacrifices  by  secession,  213 

South  Carolina,  condemnation  of 
school  of  politics  of,  53;  sup 
ports  Pierce,  103;  Hayne's 
challenge  to  Webster,  175; 
secession  of,  213 

Southern  Methodist  Church, 
Toombs'  communion  with,  373 

Southern  Rights  party,  nominates 
Troup  for  Presidency,  102 

Sparta,  Ga.,  Toombs'  escape  by, 
293,  298 

Speeches,  i,  iv,  18,  20,  21,  23- 
25,  27,  28,  46-50,  57,  59,  64, 
69-78,  85,  88,  89,  91,  92,  98, 
99,  103-105,  109-118,  145- 
152,  165-168,  170-174,  176, 
177  187-193,  205 -208,  236,  237, 
317,  318,  324-326,  329,  331, 
336,  348,  349,  369,  370 

Squatter  sovereignty,  153;  Doug- 
las'  views  on,  160,  162; 
Toombs'  opposition  to,  166, 
167;  before  Charleston  con 
vention,  177 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  orders 
arrests  of  Confederate  leaders, 
286 

State  Railroad  of  Georgia,  sup 
ported  by  Toombs,  192 

State  Sovereignty  convention, 
209 

States'  Rights,  doctrine  affirmed 
at  Milledgeville, '  52  ;  Toombs' 
characterization  of  the  Clayton 
Compromise,  61  ;  speeches  and 
views  on,  69,  70,  76-78,  88, 
110-114,  116-119,  133  ;  claims 
by  Nashville  convention,  85  ; 
the  Cincinnati  Platform,  141 ; 
Hill  on,  148. 

States'  Rights  party,  in  campaign 

of  1844,  51  ;  nominates  Troup 

for  Presidency,  102. 

States'    Rights    Whigs,     joined 

by  Toombs,  30  ;  policy  of,  31, 

Steiner,  Dr.  Henry  H.,  119,  243  ; 

influence    over  Toombs,  249 ; 

talks  with  Toombs  on  spiritual 


condition,   372,    373 ;    attends 
Toombs  at  the  last,  374,  375 
Stephens,  Alexander  H.,  his  tu 
tor,  6 ;  as  a  lawyer,  16  ;  com 
pared  with  Toombs,  18,  20,  43; 
opinion  of  Toombs'  legal  skill, 
20  ;  friendship  with  Toombs, 
43  ;  position  on    slavery  ques 
tion,  44  ;  elected  to  Congress, 
44,  55,  56,  63,  122,  333  ;  Whig- 
leader,  51  ;  leads  campaign  of 
1848  in  Georgia,    60  ;  quarrel 
with  Cone,  62  ;  reported  rup 
ture  between  Pres.  Taylor  and, 
64,  65  ;  description  of  Toombs 
in  debate,  75,  76  ;    position  on 
admission  of  California,  81;  po 
sition  on  disunion,  82;  sent  to 
convention  at  Milledgeville,  86; 
personality  of,  90  ;  Toombs'  de 
scription  of,  91  ;  in  campaign 
of  1851,  92  ;  defeats  Lewis,  93  ; 
on  the  Compromise  of  1850,  98; 
nonfinated   for     Congress    by 
Toombs,  105,  333  ;  breaks  up 
Know-nothing    party  in  Geor 
gia,  122  ;  debate  with  Hill,  144, 
145  ;  on  Cincinnati  Platform, 
165  ;      opinion    on     action  of 
Charleston    convention,    179  ; 
supports    Douglas    for    Presi 
dency,    183  ;    Vincent's    char 
acterization  of,  184,  185  ;  prom-- 
inence    of,  186  ;     letter   from 
Lincoln  to,   199  ;  views  of  se 
cession,  212  ;    deputy  to  Pro 
visional    Congress,  215  ;  opin 
ion    of  Provisional   Congress, 
216  ;  Toombs'  eulogy  of,  216  ; 
opposes  Conscription  and  Im 
pressment  Acts,  273  ;  arrested, 
286 ;    imprisoned    at  Fortress 
Monroe,    298 ;      defeated     by 
Gordon,    333  ;    becomes    Gov 
ernor  of   Georgia,  333  ;    chal 
lenges  Johnson  and  Hill,  336  ; 
funeral  of,  371,  372  ;  tribute  to 
Toombs,  375 

Stephens,  Linton,  opinion  of 
Toombs,  26  ;  opposes  Conscript 
Acts,  273 ;  introduces  peace 


392 


INDEX. 


Stephens,  Linton — Cont'd. 
resolutions,  273  ;  career,  274  ; 
aids  Toombs'  escape,  293  ;  re 
union  with  Toombs,  298,  299  ; 
disputes  reconstruction  meas 
ures,  323  ;  activity  in  recon 
struction  times,  333 

Stewart  County,  Toombs'  escape 
through,  301 

Stump-speaking,  145 

Subtreasury  system,  the,  31, 
38 

Sumner,  Charles,  leader  in  U.  S. 
Senate,  107 ;  opposes  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  108, 115;  an  "  In 
dependent  Democrat,"  109  ;  de 
nounced  by  Toombs,  110; 
enmity  to  Southern  propagand- 
ism,  129  ;  Brooks'  assault  on, 
141,  142 

Sumter,  Fort,  Confederate  de 
mand  for  surrender  of,  222  ; 
abandonment  favored  by  Lin 
coln's  Cabinet,  223 ;  prepara 
tions  to  provision,  224  ;  orders 
to  Beau  regard,  225  ;  bombard 
ment  of,  227-229 

Superstition,  Toombs'  views  on, 
367 

Supreme  Court  of  Georgia,  prac 
tice  in,  20-22,  24,  25  ;  establish 
ment  of,  41 

•  Suretyship,  opposition  to  con 
tracts  of,  41,  42 

Swedenborg,  Toombs'  fondness 
for,  368 

Swinton,  William,  on  Lincoln's 
administration,  272 

Taliaferro  County,  assigned  to 
Seventh  Congressional  Dis 
trict,  44 

Taney,  Roger  B.,  decision  in 
Dred  Scott  case,  159 

Tariff,  Whigs  favor  protective, 
31  ;  defense  of  the,  48-50  ;  in 
campaign  of  1844,  51  ;  modi 
fied  in  1832,  52  ;  Toombs' 
attitude  on,  52 ;  prominence 
of  the  question  in  1845,  56 ; 
bill  of  1846,  59  . 


Taxation,  attitude  on  Georgia, 
54 

Taylor,  Gen.  Dick,  on  Toombs' 
energy,  279,  280 

Taylor,  Zachary,  nominated  for 
President,  60  ;  elected,  63  ; 
attitude  of  Cabinet  toward  the 
South,  64 ;  reported  rupture 
with  Toombs  and  Stephens,  64, 
65  ;  death,  65  ;  opinion  on  dis 
position  of  acquired  territory, 
67  ;  Toombs'  opinion  of,  367 

Tennessee  secedes,  233 

Territories,  Toombs'  position  on 
slavery  in,  69,  76-78,  80,  132, 
166,  167,  181  ;  protest  by 
Nashville  convention  in  regard 
to,  85 ;  the  Georgia  Platform, 
86 ;  the  slavery  question  in 
the,  87 ;  third  great  sectional 
light  on  the,  107-115  ;  Toombs 
on  Federal  power  over,  111, 
132,  133  ;  the  Cincinnati  Plat 
form,  141  ;  Hill  on  rights  of, 
148  ;  Buchanan's  position  on 
question  of,  159  ;  Douglas' 
views  on  admission  of,  160  ; 
Southern  view  of  Dred  Scott 
decision  as  affecting  slavery  in, 
162  ;  Buchanan's  resolution  in 
Cincinnati  Platform,  165;  con 
test  ovei  slavery  in.  in  Charles 
ton  contention,  177  ;  demands 
of  the  South  as  to,  206 

Texas,  Toombs'  attitude  on  an 
nexation  of,  53  ;  prominence  of 
question  in  1845, 56  ;  Toombs' 
purchase  of  lands  in,  152,  153  ; 
visit  to,  153  ;  delegates  leave 
Charleston  convention,  177 

Texas  and  New  Mexico  bill, 
passed,  80 

"  The  Crime  against  Kansas," 
142 

Thomas,  Thomas  W.,  as  a 
lawyer,  16  ;  leader  of  campaign 
of  1848  in  Georgia,  60  ;  on 
Toombs'  characteristics,  272 

Thompson,  Jacob,  member  of 
the  Twenty-ninth  Congress, 
56  ;  leader  in  U.  S.  Senate,  107 


INDEX. 


393 


Tilden,   S.    J.,   interview    with 

Gen.  Gordon,  321 
Times  (London),    on    bombard 
ment  of  Sumter,  228,  229 
Tobacco,   Toombs'  use  of,  360, 

361 

Toombs,  Ann,  3 
Toombs,  Augustus,  3 
Toombs,  Dawson  Gabriel,  3 
Toombs,  Gabriel,  Sr.,  1-3 
Toombs,  Gabriel,  Jr.,  4;  mana- 

§er  of  his  brother's  plantations, 
75;  at  his  brother's  bedside, 
373 ;    resemblance  to  Robert, 
373 

Toombs,  James,  3 

Toombs,  Louise,  death  of,  312 

Toombs,  Gen.  Robert,  ancestry, 
1-4 ;  birth,  4  ;  filial  affection, 
4;  boyhood  and  education,  4- 
12 ;  horsemanship,  4-6  ;  his 
torical  learning,  6  ;  play  upon 
his  name,  6  ;  generosity,  10, 
124,  283,  284,  357  ;  joins  Meth 
odist  Church,  11,  373  ;  trustee 
of  State  University,  11  ;  col 
lege  legends  of,  12  ;  receives 
degree,  13  ;  admitted  to  the 
bar,  13 ;  marriage,  14 ;  legal 
career,  13-28 ;  legal  ethics,  18, 
19,  23  ;  oratorical  powers,  18, 
21,  23-25,  27,  28;  financial 
ability,  23,  59,  152,  220,  310, 
362  ;  morality,  23,  24  ;  Reese's 
opinion  of  24 ;  justice  of,  26, 

.  27;  failing  powers,  27;  bril 
liant  plea  of,  28  ;  entrance  into 
politics,  30  ;  elected  to  General 
Assembly,  30 ;  popularity  in 
Wilkes  County,  32  ;  chairman 
of  Judiciary  Committee  in 
General  Assembly,  33,  38  ;  ac 
tion  on  Gov.  McDonald's  relief 
measures,  34-37  ;  financial  pol 
icy,  35-39  ;  defends  Berrien, 
39  ;  support  of  railroad  enter 
prise,  40  ;  compared  with  A. 
H.  Stephens,  43 ;  friendship 
of  the  two,  43  ;  first  participa 
tion  in  national  politics,  45  ; 
contentions  with  McDuffie,  45- 


51;  charged  with  being  an 
Abolitionist,  46  ;  compared  to 
Mirabeau,  46  ;  delegate  to  Clay 
convention  of  1844,  46 ;  op 
poses  acquisition  of  Texas,  53  ; 
sent  to  Congress,  55,  56,  63, 
93  ;  position  on  Oregon  ques 
tion,  57  ;  leads  in  campaign  of 
1848  in  Georgia,  60  ;  reported 
rupture  between  Pres.  Taylor 
and,  64,  65 ;  leads  Southern 
members  from  Whig  caucus, 
69  ;  personal  appearance,  72, 
74,  89,  90,  130  ;  domestic  char 
acter,  82,  353-363  ;  address  to 
people  of  Georgia,  83-85  ;  sent 
to  convention  at  Milledgeville, 
86  ;  renominated  for  Congress, 
87 ;  prominence  in  campaign 
of  1850,  87,  88;  position  on 
the  Union  question,  88 ;  a 
journalist's  description  of,  91; 
elected  U.  8.  Senator,  94,  158  ; 

'  charged  with  fomenting  se 
cession,  94 ;  letters  to  his 
wife,  95,  123-125,  158,  239, 
242,  277,  278,  310-313,  354, 
355,  359,  360;  feeling  toward 
the  North,  98  ;  friendship 
for  Webster,  101 ;  becomes  a 
Democrat,  105;  independence 
of,  106  ;  enters  U.  S.  Senate, 
107  ;  frequently  misquoted, 
119 ;  horror  of  civil  war,  120  ; 
death  of  his  daughters,  123, 
310,  312  ;  European  trip,  123, 
125-128;  liberality  in  matters 
of  conscience,  125  ;  physical 
strength,  125, 127;  international 
reputation,  126  ;  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  127  ;  treatment 
of  slaves,  138,  139  ;  accused  of 
participation  in  assault  on 
Sumner,  142,  143  ;  debate  with 
Hill.  144-152  ;  accused  of  being 
a  turncoat  and  disunionist,  151  ; 
address  to  Northern  Democrats, 
176, 177  ;  letter  to  Macon  com 
mittee,  179,  180  ;  advice  on 
Charleston  convention  matters, 
180,  181 ;  fears  for  the  Consti- 


394 


INDEX. 


Toombs,  Gen.  Robert — Contd. 
tution,  180,  182 ;  rupture  with 
Douglas,  181  ;  delegate  to 
Democratic  State  convention, 
183 ;  Vincent's  characterization 
of,  184,  185  ;  charges  of  deser 
tion  of  Douglas,  186;  Presiden 
tial  ambitions,  186,  187  ;  activ 
ity  in  public  duty,  187;  first 
public  office,  192  ;  accused  by 
Georgia  "  minute-men,"  201  ; 
•withdrawal  from  the  Senate, 
205-208  ;  chairman  of  Commit 
tee  on  Foreign  Relations,  214  ; 
writes  address  to  people  of 
Georgia,  215;  deputy  to  Pro 
visional  Congress,  215  ;  a  can 
didate  for  Presidency  of  South 
ern  Confederacy,  216  ;  machi 
nations  against,  218;  curious 
incidents  in  life  of,  219  ;  chair 
man  of  Finance  Committee  of 
Provisional  Congress,  220  ; 
made  Secretary  of  State,  221  ; 
opposes  assault  on  Sumter,  226: 
triumphs  of  diplomacy,  230  ; 
joins  the  army,  235  ;  speech  on 
the  produce  loan,  236,  237; 
the  archives  of  the  Confederacy, 
237  ;  retreat  from  Centreville, 

239  ;  care  of  his  brigade,  240  ; 
impatience  of  mismanagement, 

240  ;   elected  Confederate  Sen 
ator,    241  ;  declines   Secretary 
ship  of  War,  242  ;  impatience 
under  red  tape,  234,  243  ;    de 
bate  with  Davis  on   Army  Ap 
propriation   bill,  247-249;  use 
of  liquor,  249,  250  ;  position  on 
the  peninsula,   250  ;    action  at 
Gelding's  farm,  250,  251  ;  at 
Malvern  Hill,  252, 253^;  charges 
of  cowardice,  and  correspond 
ence  thereon,  254-258  ;  quarrel 
with  Longstreet,  259,  260  ;  un 
der  arrest  at  Gordonsville,  259, 
260  ;  in  second  battle  of  Manas- 
sas,  261 ,  262  ;  report  of  actions 
at  Antietam,  265-268  ;  wound 
ed,  268,  269  ;  popularity  among 
his  troops,   269;     leaves    the 


army,  269,  270  ;  reasons  for  his 
non-promotion,  270,  271 ;  mili 
tary  abilities,  271  ;  with  the 
militia,  276-279  ;  declines  gov 
ernorship,  273  ;  energy  of,  279, 

280  ;  parting  with  Gov.  Brown, 

281  ;  action  at  close  of  war, 
281  ;  last  meeting  with  Davis' 
284,  285  ;  escape,  286-307 ;  be 
comes  a  Freemason,  289  ;    con 
versational   powers,    305,    306 
310,  358,  359  ;    dread   of  cap 
ture,  306  ;  vivacity,  306;  arriv 
al  in    Cuba,     307;    arrival   in 
Paris,  308  ;  sells  land,  308  ;   in 
exile,     309-313;     returns      to 
America,   312,   313;    unrecon 
structed,  313  ;  return  to  Geor 
gia,    315  ;     resumes     practice 
of     law,    316 ;   in    reconstruc 
tion  days,     315-329  ;     master 
of     invective,    318-322,     326 ; 
before  the  Supreme  Court    of 
Georgia,  320,  321  ;  opinion  of 
Yankees,  322  ;  zeal,  322.  323  ; 
addresses  meeting  at  Atlanta 
324-326  ;    fondness  for   farm 
ing,  330,    331  ;    strained    rela 
tions  with  Brown,  333-336  ;  a 
believer  in  the  code  of  honor, 
336 ;    the    Constitutional    con 
vention,  and  the  new  constitu 
tion,   337-352  ;    pays  expenses 
of    Constitutional    convention, 
344,     345  ;     golden    wedding, 
356,  357  ;  hospitality,  357,  358.; 
sympathies  of,  359,  360;    last 
appearance  in  court,  361,  362  ; 
wealth,    362,   363;     his    great 
fault,  364-368  ;   love  of  litera 
ture,  367,   368  ;  last  days,  369 
-375  ;     attends    Stephens'  fu 
neral,     371,     372  ;     at    wife's 
death-bed,  372,  373  ;  baptized, 
373 ;    death   and    burial,    375, 
376  ;  his  monument,  376 

Toombs,  Major  Robert,  2,  3 
Toombs,  Mrs.,  friendship  for  A. 
H.  Stephens,  62  ;  aids  her  hus 
band's  escape,  286,  287  ;  joins 
her  husband  in  Paris,  309;  re- 


INDEX. 


895 


Toombs,  Mrs. — Cont'd. 
turns  to  America,  310  ;  char 
acter,   356,   357;    accident  to, 
356  ;  golden  wedding,  356,  357  ; 
death,  372,   373 

Toombs,  William,  2 

Toombs  oak,  the,  12 

Toucey,   ,   leader  in   U.    S. 

Senate,  107 

Towns,  Gov.,  calls  State  conven 
tion,  83 

Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  lec 
ture  on  slavery  in,  129-135 

Trinity  River,  Toombs'  lands  on, 
152 

Troup,  George  M.,  defender  of 
States'  Rights,  30,  31  ;  opposi 
tion  to  Jackson's  measures,  31  ; 
attitude  on  the  tariff  question, 
51  ;  opposes  Toombs  in  cam 
paign  of  1844,  53 

Troup,  Capt.,  on  Toombs'  staff, 
268 

Tugaloo  River,  290 

Turncoats,  Crawford's  ideas  of,  91 

Tyler,  Pres.,  Toombs  on,  367 

Union  College,  13 

Union  Democratic-Republican 
party,  30 

United  States  Bank,  supported 
by  Berrien,  39  ;  defense  of,  48 

United  States  Constitution,  posi 
tion  on  slavery,  132 

United  States  judges,  higher  pay 
for,  supported  by  Toombs,  192 

United  States  Senate,  personnel  in 
1853,  107  ;  debate  on  popular 
sovereignty,  163,  164  ;  farewell 
speech  in,  205-208 

University  of  Georgia,  6-12  ; 
annual  address  at,  331,  332 

University  of  Virginia,  course  at, 
13 

Utah,  acquisition  of,  67  ;  ques 
tion  of  organization  of  Terri 
tory,  79 

Van  Buren,  Prea.  Martin,  cen 
sured  by  Toombs,  31  ;  Toombs 
on,  367 


Vandyke,  John,  opposes  Toombs 
in  House  of  Representatives,  72 

Vincent,  characterization  of 
Toombs,  Hill,  and  Stephens, 
184,  185 

Virginia, ,  settlement  of  the 

Toombs  family  in,  2 ;  sup 
ports  Calhoun,  29;  Brown' 
raid  into,  169,  170;  secedes, 
233 

Waddell,  Pres.  Moses,  8,  9 

Wade, ,  vote  on  Kansas- Ne 
braska  bill,  115 

Walker,  Levi  P.,  Secretary  of 
War  of  Confederate  States, 
221  ;  instructions  to  Beaure- 
gard  about  Fort  Sumter,  224, 
225 

Walker,  Robert  J. ,  governor  of 
Kansas,  160 

Walker,  Gen.  W.  H.  T.,  dispute 
with  Gen.  Hill  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  258,  259 

Walthall,  Gen.  E.  C.,  277 

War,  Toombs'  views  on,  57 

"  War  between  the  States,"  75, 
98,  185,  371 

Warner,  Hiram,  opinion  of 
Homestead  and  Exemption 
laws,  318 

Warwick  River,  Toombs'  opera 
tions  on,  244 

Washington,  D.  C..  imperiled 
after  first  battle  of  Manassas, 
238  ;  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  advances  on,  262 

Washington,  Ga.,  Mrs.  Toombs1 
residence  at,  4  ;  distinguished 
men  around,  16  ;  speech  at,  98, 
99  ;  debate  between  Toombs 
and  Hill  at,  144-152  ;  Toombs 
elected  commissioner,  192  ;  the 
Toombs  home  at,  360 

Washington  County,  escape 
through,  299 

Waterloo,  visit  to  field  of,  126 

Webster,  Rev.  Alexander,  6 

Webster,  Daniel,  compared  with 
Toombs,  14  ;  last  efforts  of, 
68  ;  great  Union  speech  of,  79  ; 


39G 


INDEX. 


Webster,  Daniel—  Cbnt'd. 

tribute  to,  99,  104,  367  ;  nomi 
nated  for  Presidency7,  99 ;  ad 
miration  for,  in  the  South, 
100  ;  Secretary  of  State,  100  ; 
friendship  with  Toombs,  101  ; 
death,  102,  107  ;  Hayne's  chal 
lenge  to,  175  ;  his"  loss  felt, 
201 

Wellborn,  Speaker,  39 
Wesleyan  Female  College,  9 
Western  and  Atlantic  Railroad, 

40 

West  Indies,   effects  of  emanci 
pation  in,  134,  137 
West  Point,  Toombs'  opinion  of 
training  at,  246-249  ;  criticism 
of  officers  from,  273  ;  criticism 
not  sustained,  275 
Wheeler,  Gen.  Joseph,  301,  303 
Whig     party,   demand    internal 
improvements,     40  ;     attitude 
toward     protection,     46  ;     in 
campaign  of  1844,  51,  55  ;  posi 
tion  in  campaign  of  1848,  60  ; 
caucus  of   1845,    68-70;    joint 
action     with      Democrats    in 
Georgia,     85  ;    convention    at 
Baltimore,  97  ;  Southern  oppo 
sition  to  Presidential  candidate 
Scott,  98  ;  nominates  Webster 
for  Presidency,  99;  break  in, 
by    Southern    members,    100  ; 
Toombs'  defection  from,  105  ; 
rupture    over  Scott's  nomina 
tion,    121  ;  absorption  into  Re 
publican  party,  140 
Wilde,   Gen.,  attempts  the  cap 
ture  of  Toombs,  286 
Wilkes   County,    land-grant     to 
Major  Robert  Toombs  in,  2 ; 


partition  of  lands  in,  3  ;  birth 
place  of  Gen.  Toombs,  4  ;  legal 
practice  in,  15,  16,  22,  23 ; 
factions  in,  29,  80  ;  politics  of' 
82;  defeat  of  Whigs  in,  37; 
assigned  to  Eighth"  Congres 
sional  District,  44 

Wilkinson  County,  escape 
through,  296 

Willington,  S.  C.,  speech  at,  45 

Wilmot,  David,  member  of 
Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56 

Wilmot  Proviso,  Ohio's  position 
in  regard  to,  60  ;  menace  to  the 
South,  70,  79  ;  abandoned,  79, 
87  ;  Webster's  attitude  on,  99, 
100;  how  characterized  by 
Toombs,  149 

Wing-field,  J.  T.,  288 

Winthrop,  Robert  C.,  member  of 
Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56  ; 
defeated  for  Speakership.  69 

Wisconsin,  debate  on  counting 
Electoral  vote,  193,  194 

Wolseley,  Gen.,  on  Sherman's  in 
vasion  of  Georgia,  281 

Worth,  Fort,  meeting  with  squat 
ters  at,  153,  154 

Wright,  A.  R, ,  deputy  to  Pro 
visional  Congress,  215 

Yancey,  William  L.,  member  of 
Twenty-ninth  Congress,  56  ; 
leads  seceders  from  Charleston 
convention,  177;  letter  to 
Slaughter,  177,  178  ;  speech  in 
Charleston,  178  ;  commissioner 
to  Europe,  229 

Yorktown,  Toombs'  operations 
at,  244,  245 

"  Young  Alice,"  300 


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